{"id":196665,"date":"2026-07-21T21:10:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T18:10:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/196665\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T21:10:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T18:10:44","slug":"georgian-authorities-not-to-take-action-against-undocumented-belarusian-rights-defender","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/196665\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgian authorities not to take action against undocumented Belarusian rights defender"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (Raman Ki\u015blak)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

July 21, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Belarusian human rights defender Raman Ki\u015blak told Pozirk <\/em>that Georgia\u2019s authorities targeting him as an \u201cillegal migrant\u201d had agreed to wait for the UN Human Rights Committee make a decision on his appeal against their refusal to grant him political asylum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On July 21, Ki\u015blak presented himself at the interior ministry\u2019s migration department as instructed by Georgia\u2019s border police last week. \u201cMy case manager met me, and when I showed her a request for interim measures issued by the UN Human Rights Committee, she said that the department knows that my case is pending before the UN body and will wait for its decision,\u201d he said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ki\u015blak noted that the Committee could take years to decide on his complaint. In the meantime, he is required to visit the migration department again for an \u201cinterview.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Georgian border police visited Ki\u015blak in his Tbilisi home on July 16 and drew up a report accusing him of staying in the country illegally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If deported to Belarus, Ki\u015blak would face charges of terrorism, high treason and conspiracy to seize power in connection with his human rights activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Georgia had denied political asylum to Ki\u015blak twice before he lodged his complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee. Although Georgian authorities appear to have acknowledged that he cannot be expelled for the time being, they have refused to issue him a temporary identification document. His bank accounts have been blocked because his Belarusian passport expired in 2024 and he lacks any ID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many Belarusians moved to Georgia to escape politically motivated persecution unleashed by the \u0141uka\u0161enka regime following the 2020 post-election protests. Georgia has not granted asylum to a single Belarusian under the Georgian Dream government of pro-Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Georgian migration authorities have lately intensified their anti-immigration campaign and have been conducting raids to identify undocumented migrants, including door-to-door checks, with Belarusians among those targeted. Local media and diaspora activists have reported cases of foreigners being deported on what they describe as trumped-up grounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja told Pozirk<\/em> in May that it was currently impossible to negotiate with Georgian authorities on recognizing expired Belarusian passports or issuing temporary identification documents to foreigners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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