background
Calculated per capita, most asylum seekers in Germany come from Georgia. This also has to do with healthcare. Very few people are allowed to stay long-term.
The processing time for asylum applications from Georgian citizens has decreased in recent years. Repatriations take place quickly. Nevertheless, the number of Georgian applicants has increased significantly again since the end of the Corona restrictions. While there were 3,081 initial applications in 2017, it is now foreseeable in October that the number will exceed that of 2022: By October, 7,644 Georgian citizens applied for asylum in Germany for the first time.
According to the BAMF, Georgia is in sixth place among all countries. With a population of 3.7 million, Georgia ranks first per capita.
Among these states – such as Syria and Afghanistan – Georgia is considered to be the most democratic and peaceful, which is reflected in the overall protection rate of 0.4 percent. For Syrian citizens, for example, it is 85.3 percent.
| country | Total initial and subsequent applications | Population in millions |
|---|---|---|
Syria | 84,739 | 23.2 |
Türkiye | 46,237 | 85.5 |
Afghanistan | 45,955 | 42.2 |
Iraq | 10,477 | 45.5 |
Iran | 8,947 | 89.2 |
Georgia | 8,513 | 3.7 |
Russian Federation | 7,629 | 144.4 |
Somalia | 4,766 | 18.1 |
Eritrea | 3,711 | 3.7 |
Social and economic hardships
The BAMF says that it generally does not record reasons for asylum statistically. Other surveys allow conclusions to be drawn. For years, surveys have shown that the social and economic situation as well as unemployment are the biggest concerns of the population in Georgia. The neoliberal policies of Saakashvili’s government in the 2000s led to modernization, but for many people it did not lead to an improvement in the social situation.
An example is health care, where deregulation led to the creation of monopolies. Even if the successor government made corrections and expanded health insurance for everyone, a comparatively high proportion of the population has to pay for treatments and medications from their own wallets. When serious illnesses arise, families take out loans with high interest rates. In addition, there has been a high level of mistrust in doctors for years.
Hope for medical treatment
Many Georgians therefore come to the EU with the hope of being treated for serious illnesses. An example is a case that was heard in July before the State Social Court in Celle. It was about a minor asylum seeker with a chronic, progressive illness. He arrived in 2022 with his parents, who hoped for better medical care for him.
The responsible district refused to cover the treatment costs. However, the district was obliged to cover the costs in an interim order. The State Social Court referred to the fundamental right to a humane minimum subsistence level, especially for children.
The question remains whether seriously ill people and their relatives could be spared long journeys if the EU worked towards significantly improving the health system in Georgia, for example as part of the integration process into the Union.
The massive wave of emigration, especially of young people, could be countered with training and work programs in the EU, which also include reintegration in Georgia. This is provided for in the migration agreement that the federal government is currently negotiating with Georgia. The Federal Ministry of the Interior wanted to know the exact contents tagesschau.de-Do not express your request.