Ministry of Internal Affairs releases statistics of Russian citizen inflow into Georgia
By Liza Mchedlidze
Wednesday, September 28, 2022
The Ministry of Internal Affairs publishes statistics on how many people crossed the Russian-Georgian border in the last 10 days. In total, from September 17 to September 26, 78,742 people entered from Russia, and 62,120 people crossed the border.
According to MIA, after September 21, the number of people entering the border from Russia increased.
"In order to effectively manage the increased flow from the Russian Federation, police teams are additionally stationed at the Darial border crossing point, both to perform border immigration control procedures and to ensure public order and prevent possible violations in the area surrounding the point.
In addition, the appropriate unit of the State Security Service is permanently present at the border checkpoint, in order to ensure security and identify risks.
Border control procedures are carried out with special observation, in full compliance with the current legislation of Georgia," the statement reads.
According to them, the number of citizens who are not allowed to enter the territory of Georgia due to the reasons stipulated by the legislation has increased recently. Accordingly, questions are asked more often about the rules of admission and the reasons for refusal.
"As it is known, according to Article 12 of the Law of Georgia on the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons, upon entering Georgia, any citizen of a foreign country undergoes an inspection at the border checkpoint, as a result of which he is either given permission to enter Georgia or is refused and cannot cross Georgian border. The inspection/survey of each foreign citizen is carried out in accordance with internationally recognized best practices.
The border guard takes the decision to grant or refuse entry to a citizen of a foreign country as a result of evaluating various factors and circumstances. For example, it takes into account the compliance of the documents available to the person with the purpose of the trip, the sufficient amount of financial funds during the stay in Georgia and upon departure from Georgia, the terms of stay in the country in the past, etc. Accordingly, if this standard is violated, law enforcement officers explain to the foreign citizen on the spot the possible reasons for the refusal and the conditions for appealing this decision.
In order to identify risk-taking persons at the border-crossing points, inspection/interview of citizens and in conditions of increased number, arrangement of the border-crossing point and road infrastructure during movement to a certain extent leads to the formation of queues, which, at the same time, requires an increased period of time for registration.
Every month, the Ministry of Internal Affairs proactively publishes the statistical data of persons and transport moved across the state border of Georgia. Accordingly, in the future, the Ministry will also ensure, on the one hand, the publication of statistics, and on the other hand, the analysis of relevant data and informing the public," the Ministry of Internal Affairs says.
According to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Vakhtang Gomelauri, the number of Russian citizens entering Georgia has increased by 40-45% in recent days.
Gomelauri stated that about 10,000 citizens from Russia enter Georgia every day.
"As for the fact that 250,000 Russian citizens entered, this is absolutely incorrect, it is a lie, not so many entered, and I don't know where you get these numbers from. About 4-5 days ago, there were 5,000-6,000 people entering, now it has increased to 10,000 to, it increased by 40-45%, not 250,000 and 2 million. I don't know where they get it from," said Gomelauri.
