Georgia refused to provide international protection to Ukrainians held at the checkpoint.

Georgian authorities denied international protection to Ukrainian citizens who have been living in the basement of the "Upper Lars - Daryali" border checkpoint for almost a year. The migration service justified the denial with a conclusion from the counterintelligence of the State Security Service, noting that they pose a threat to the country's security. They could be expelled from Georgia at any moment.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", lawyer Daria Samodurova has been unable for two months to obtain a pass to meet with her clients, 17 Ukrainian citizens who are in the basement of the "Daryali" checkpoint. The Ministry of Internal Affairs does not provide written responses to her requests, and the court has not decided whether to accept her lawsuit against the agency.

The appeal of the decision yielded no results

Georgian authorities denied international protection to Ukrainian citizens who have been living in the basement of the Georgian border checkpoint "Upper Lars - Daryali" for almost a year. They could be expelled from Georgia at any moment, writes the Apus project.

Lawyer Tsiala Ratiani reported that all 17 Ukrainian citizens in the basement of the Georgian customs checkpoint "Upper Lars - Daryali" were denied international protection. According to her, they could now be expelled at any moment.

Some Ukrainian citizens have been in the basement of the border checkpoint for about a year. Due to the lack of any legal status, at the end of June, they attempted to apply for international protection in Georgia. According to the lawyer, border service employees initially refused to accept the applications for several days, literally running away when Ukrainian citizens tried to hand them the requests for international protection. Only on July 2 did they accept the applications, and the documents were officially registered, after which the procedure for considering the request for international protection for all 17 Ukrainian citizens at the border checkpoint began. The case was processed with unprecedented speed. Late in the evening on July 3, patrol department employees began to summon them and conducted the first interview, followed by an interview by the migration service on July 8. On July 7, the case materials already included a conclusion from the counterintelligence department of the State Security Service of Georgia, sent to the migration service. For some applicants, the conclusion indicated the impracticality of granting protection, while for others, it stated that they posed a threat to national security. On July 10, the migration service communicated the denial of asylum to all 17 Ukrainian citizens, which is legally interpreted as "exclusion from additional international protection," the message states.

The State Security Service, counterintelligence, considered it impractical, that they pose a danger to Georgia. We cannot find out why they made this decision — it is a state secret.

The migration service justified the denial with a conclusion from the counterintelligence of the State Security Service dated July 8 and indicated that these Ukrainian citizens pose a threat to the security of Georgia. However, neither the applicants themselves nor their lawyers were informed about the nature of this threat and to which category of risk it belongs. The Tbilisi City Court upheld the decisions of the migration service. According to Tsiala Ratiani, further appeal of the decision at the national level is no longer possible. The interests of the Ukrainian citizens were represented by lawyers Tsiala Ratiani and Daria Samodurova. The court hearings were open, but the Ukrainian citizens themselves were not brought to the courthouse; they participated in the processes remotely. Some Ukrainians stated that they do not want to return home, as most of those who were previously sent from this checkpoint to Ukraine were immediately mobilized and could not even see their relatives.

"The State Security Service, counterintelligence, considered it impractical, that they pose a danger to Georgia. We cannot find out why they made this decision — it is a state secret, only the judge can review it," Ratiani's words are quoted by "Mediazona" (listed in the register of foreign agents).

Previously, Ukrainians who planned to return home remained at the checkpoint for a long time

Information about the detention of Ukrainian citizens deported from the Russian Federation at the border with Georgia was known as early as 2025. In early August, five Ukrainian citizens declared a hunger strike at the Georgian checkpoint, demanding access to the Ukrainian consul, the opportunity to leave Georgia, or to apply for international protection. After meeting with the Ukrainian consul, they ended their hunger strike. At the end of August, it became known that more than 60 Ukrainians, after a forced long stay at the checkpoint, managed to return home.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that in December 2023, a group of Ukrainian citizens, mostly former prisoners, waited a long time for permission to enter Georgia from Russia. Some of them spent about a month at the checkpoint. According to them, they were only assisted by volunteers.

In October 2023, seven Ukrainian citizens were forced to spend more than two weeks in the buffer zone at the Russian-Georgian border. They had previously served sentences in Kherson colonies, and after their release, they were taken to a deportation center in Volgograd and issued entry bans to Russia. While Georgian authorities refused to let them into the country, volunteers provided the Ukrainians with food and essential items.

At the end of November of the same year, it became known that Georgian authorities again refused to let former Ukrainian prisoners into the country. Volunteers managed to obtain passes for eight Ukrainians, but another eight people, who by that time had already spent more than two weeks at the checkpoint, remained waiting at the border.