German Bundestag Includes Georgia on Safe Country List

On 18 January, the German Bundestag, the lower house of Germany’s government, voted to include Georgia on its safe countries of origin list with a resounding 509 votes to 138. The vote will make it easier for German authorities to deport Georgian migrants arriving in the country without a visa. The northern African states of Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco were also added to the list.

Countries are deemed to be a ‘safe country of origin’ when there is believed to be no political persecution, inhumane or degrading treatment of citizens. The 1951 German Refugee Convention states that people are entitled to seek asylum based on a well-founded fear of persecution, for example, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or torture, in their home country.

The Georgian Ambassador to Germany Elguja Khokrishvili announced, “the bill will simplify processing of the asylum seeker applications from Georgia and other countries as well as fasten the readmission process of those who were rejected for asylum.”

The move is designed to deter Georgians from moving to Germany to claim asylum. Helge Lindh, a politician from Germany’s social democrats' party, SPD, announced that the move was necessary to eliminate false hope that citizens from the listed countries can apply for asylum or refugee status in Germany. 

The new measure was supported by the Christian Democrats Union and Social Democrats.

However, representatives of the Greens and Left parties were critical of the move. Luise Amtsberg from the Greens believes the vote to be motivated by political concerns as the number of asylum applications from the four countries has significantly decreased. In the second half of 2018, the number of Georgian asylum seekers in Germany dropped due to close cooperation between German and Georgian governments.

Politicians from the CSU-SPD coalition tried to pass the bill in 2017 but failed due to political resistance. The Bundesrat, the upper house of the German parliament, must still approve the bill, expected to appear before the Bundesrat as early as February 15.

The number of Georgians seeking asylum in EU countries increased massively when Georgia was granted visa-free status to visit EU countries. German news outlet Deutsche Welle reported that 2976 Georgians applied for asylum in 2018.

By Amy Jones 

Photo source: Diem 25