EU reports growth of applications for asylum from Georgia citizens

The European Union (EU) has expressed concern over the growth of unjustified applications for asylum submitted by Georgian citizens. This is stated in the 2nd Report of the European Commission on the visa-free regime for the countries of Eastern Europe.

In the first half of 2018, the number of asylum applications doubled: 9680 against 4770 for the same period of 2017. Germany and France are the main destination countries. At the same time, in 2017, the satisfaction level of applications decreased almost three times, down to 5.48% (against 14.09% in 2016).

Organized criminal groupings from Georgia are still considered to be among the most widespread in Europe (from among non-EU countries), in particular, in France, Greece, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden.

The EU demands from Georgia to strengthen cooperation in order to reduce the number of unreasonable asylum applications, improve border controls, and continue the information campaigns on citizens' rights and obligations under the visa-free travel regime.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 20, 2018 at 07:11 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.