Georgia detains 42 foreign nationals in crackdown on illegal migration

Georgia’s Interior Ministry on Saturday said its Migration Department had detained 42 foreign nationals as part of a nationwide operation targeting illegal migration.

The special immigration control measures were carried out in the capital city of Tbilisi, western city of Kutaisi and the Black Sea resort city of Batumi, with inspections conducted at various locations and facilities to identify individuals residing in the country without legal grounds.

Those detained include citizens of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Iraq, China, Burkina Faso, the Philippines, Jordan, Russia, Thailand, Sudan and Nepal. Authorities said the individuals were found to be in violation of Georgian law on the legal status of foreigners and stateless persons.

The detainees have been transferred to a temporary accommodation centre run by the Migration Department, and procedures are underway for their deportation.

The Interior Ministry added that intensified immigration control measures have also had a preventive effect, prompting a number of foreign nationals to leave the country voluntarily. In the first quarter of the year, 2,030 individuals without legal status have already departed Georgia on their own, it said.