{"id":205183,"date":"2026-09-25T13:47:44","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T10:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205183\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T14:45:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T11:45:57","slug":"georgia-arrests-belarusian-asylum-seeker-2","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/205183\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgia arrests Belarusian asylum seeker"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\n Le\u016d Michieje\u016d (left) and Raman Ki\u015blak in Tbilisi\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (Courtesy of Raman Ki\u015blak)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

September 25, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> Georgian law enforcers have arrested Le\u016d Michieje\u016d, a Belarusian man who has been awaiting political asylum in the country since 2021, rights activist Raman Ki\u015blak, who faces similar problems in Georgia, told Pozirk<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michieje\u016d has been waiting for asylum longer than almost any of his fellow countrymen. While in Georgia, he participated in protest rallies and received threats from the Belarusian Committee for State Security (KGB). The man was detained when he submitted an application to renew his temporary identity card at the migration department in the village of Markopi. He was taken to Tbilisi for questioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLe\u016d\u2019s case has been under review for about three years,\u201d Ki\u015blak said. \u201cAs of today, his presumed status is that of an asylum seeker, with the case pending before the Tbilisi Court of Appeals. But it\u2019s possible that his case has already been decided and he hasn\u2019t been informed. In that case, he could have been arrested for deportation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many Belarusians moved to Georgia to escape politically-motivated persecution unleashed by the Alaksandar \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

The Georgian migration authorities have 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 impossible to negotiate with Georgian authorities on the recognition of expired Belarusian passports or issue temporary identification documents to foreigners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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