In April this year, the UK Parliament approved regulations allowing people seeking safety here to be sent back to Georgia without proper consideration of their asylum claims.
Today Asylos in partnership with Rainbow Migration is releasing a new in-depth analysis that shows how the UK government’s position that Georgia is generally a ‘safe’ country, is not supported by the Country of information (COI) set out in its own Country Policy and Information Note on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. Furthermore, COI published after the December 2023 Georgia: SOGIE CPIN, suggests no improvement in the situation of LGBTQI+ Georgians, particularly following the anti-LGBTQI+ legislative package that was adopted by the Georgian Parliament on 17 September 2024.
The legislative package proposes restrictions on the rights of LGBTQI+ people in Georgia, including a ban on same-sex marriage, prohibition on gender affirming surgery and the possibility of legal recognition of a gender, as well as a prohibition on public gatherings that promote same sex relationships or identification with other genders, and the sharing of information in schools and the media that could be perceived as ‘LGBTQI+ propaganda’.
Following the publication of this commentary, we urge the new government to remove Georgia from the list of ‘safe’ countries where it can return people to. There’s mounting evidence of the danger that LGBTQI+ people face there and the situation has only worsened in recent months. During 2023, we supported Noah, a gay man who fled homophobic persecution in Georgia and who explained:
“Georgia cannot be considered a safe country. They don’t know what is going on in Georgia, how the LGBT people are living there, they cannot understand. Because Georgia is now trying to join the EU, they show only the beautiful things, but it’s not good. Gay people are killed, trans people are killed.
The last time that Pride took place, the television operator was killed. Who will come and say Georgia is a safe country after that? If you’re gay your two options are either hospital or exorcism.”
Noah was extremely fearful of being sent back to Georgia, and said he would rather take his own life than go back and face persecution. Luckily, he was granted refugee status earlier this year, but other LGBTQI+ people are still in danger. Everyone should have the right to seek safety here, no matter where they come from.