Georgia LGBTQI+ refugees say Europe safe lists put them at risk

LGBTQI+ people who fled from Georgia because their sexual orientation or gender identity exposed them to death threats, abuse or curbs under new laws are at risk under European "safe states" lists which could see them deported back to danger, activists say.

Lawyers and activists said Georgians may not have their asylum claims properly considered as their home country is deemed safe by a dozen European countries, including Britain and Germany.

“LGBTQI+ people are not safe to be living freely without being persecuted in Georgia. Whether it's by the government, the community or their family members,” said Ayesha Aziz, legal service manager at Rainbow Migration, a British NGO that supports LGBTQI+ asylum seekers.

Aziz, who helps LGBTQI+ asylum seekers navigate Britain's asylum process, said basing a decision on outdated and incomplete country information meant the odds were stacked against applicants.

She and other activists want Georgia, which is applying for EU membership, taken off safe states lists to reflect Georgian anti-LGBTQI+ legislation passed this year, as well as prevailing prejudices.

Safe state lists are meant to speed up asylum applications by designating some countries as places where there is no fear of state persecution, violence or armed conflict.

That means people from the countries have little chance of having their asylum applications accepted and can be deported more swiftly if their claims are rejected.

In some countries exceptions are made for specific groups who may be targeted, such as when the Netherlands added Morocco to its safe list with an exception for LGBTQI+ applicants.

The issue of LGBTQI+ rights divides opinion in Georgia, where the country's Orthodox Church, which opposes same-sex relationships, enjoys wide public respect.

Opinion polls show widespread disapproval of same-sex relationships and the Pride march in the capital Tbilisi is often attacked by protesters.

The Georgian parliament approved a law this week containing sweeping curbs to LGBTQI+ rights, such as bans on “LGBTQI+ propaganda” and gender reassignment surgery.

In June, a foreign agents law came into effect that requires organisations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as agents of foreign influence.

Thousands protested the bill before it was passed. The country's opposition and Western countries called it authoritarian and Russian-inspired. LGBTQI+ organisations said the law would be used to silence them.

The EU warned Georgia the law would negatively impact its path to membership of the bloc.

Lawyers and activists want countries that receive the largest number of Georgian asylum applications, such as Germany and Britain, to update safe country lists to take into account the legislation and make decisions on a case-by-case basis.

“The approach we see more and more is anyone from the (safe list) country will immediately be considered inadmissible,” said Aziz, referring to the process in Britain.

Asked to comment, the British Home Office said: “We regularly monitor the situation in countries from which migrants originate to keep any country policy and information notes and safe country designations under constant review.”

Mikhail Tumasov, a rights activist with the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany, said safe lists were being used by governments to deny entry to more people.

“They want to make this (safe) list as long as possible,” he said.

Asked whether Georgia's safe list status was up for review, a German interior ministry spokesperson said: “The legal and political situation in Georgia is continuously monitored.”

Commenting on the foreign agents law, the spokesperson said “the effects of the law on actual legal practice, in other words the application of the law and, if necessary, the sentencing, remain to be seen”.

Georgia has been on Germany's safe list since December 2023 and on Britain's since April this year.

Belgium removed it in July 2023 over human rights concerns, but introduced a different accelerated procedure for Georgians in February 2024 to fast-track returns of economic migrants.

Lawyers and activists said Georgian LGBTQI+ asylum seekers could face harassment, violence and honour killings if they are sent home.

One Georgian asylum seeker in Britain agreed to speak to the Thomson Reuters Foundation on condition of anonymity as they said they were particularly at risk if their asylum application was denied.

Growing up in Georgia, they said their life was tightly controlled by their family. When they fell in love with a person of the same sex, they knew they could not “live openly”, but could also not hide it for long from their family.

Their worst fears were confirmed when they were outed and severely beaten. Soon after, they received a call from a family member saying “today or tomorrow, (they) will kill me”.

At this point, they said, they wanted to give up on life, but as a parent they felt compelled to find safety and applied for asylum in Britain.

After their asylum application was rejected, they are appealing.

“In the UK, I discovered my life matters. But until a decision is made on my case, I'm not feeling 100% safe.”

Activists said persuading governments to review safe lists would be complicated by increasingly hostile anti-immigration rhetoric across Europe.

Meanwhile, there are fears the situation could deteriorate further in Georgia before elections scheduled for October 26.

The ruling Georgian Dream party is expected to further clamp down on LGBTQI+ rights in a bid to boost support. Polls show the party remains Georgia's most popular, though it has lost ground since it won a slim parliamentary majority in 2020.

Lucas Ablotia, 19, an LGBTQI+ activist who was granted asylum in Belgium after the Pride march in Tbilisi was attacked in July 2023, said the new laws showed the government's true colours.

“It was a demonstration the government was homophobic,” and the discrimination and harassment was becoming enshrined in law, he said.

If October's elections do not bring a change in government, LGBTQI+ activist and co-founder of Tbilisi Pride Giorgi Tabagari predicted the situation would get worse.

“We will have to migrate because there (will be) no safe existence in that society,” Tabagari said.

Whatever decision EU countries make regarding safe state designation, Georgia is “increasingly unsafe for LGBTQI+ people”, said Belinda Dear, senior advocacy officer at LGBTQI+ organisation ILGA-Europe.

“Countries must make sure they don't use the broad safety designation as an excuse to reject LGBTQI+ asylum seekers.”

Thomson Reuters Foundation