Georgia closes asylum doors in shadow of ties with Tehran

While human rights organizations warn of continued persecution of Iranian Christians, Georgia has severely restricted the process of granting asylum to these citizens by prioritizing political and economic relations.

International human rights organizations have announced in a new report that Iranian Christian citizens who have fled religious pressure and discrimination in their country have also faced widespread rejection of asylum applications in Georgia.

According to the report, published by a coalition of Christian human rights organizations including Article 18, Open Doors, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, and Middle East Concern, the Georgian government has refused to accept the vast majority of cases in recent years, citing doubts about the "genuineness of the faith" of these citizens.

According to the Christian Post, less than one percent of the more than 1,000 Iranian asylum applications in Georgia in the past three years have been approved, even though Iranians make up about a fifth of the country's total refugee population.

Jalal Drazi, one of the citizens, said his application was rejected after he failed to answer questions about Georgian Orthodox Christianity during an interview. “I felt like the whole thing was a formality and that they had already made up their mind,” he said.

Analysts see the main reason for this trend in Tbilisi’s expanding relations with Tehran. According to official data, the volume of trade between the two countries reached more than $270 million in 2023, and some unofficial estimates put the real figure at up to $500 million. “When you need good relations with your big neighbor, you can’t give asylum status to citizens of that country,” says one asylum lawyer who asked not to be named.

This pressure is sometimes applied directly to Christian activists. According to the report, in July 2024, Pastor Reza Fazeli was summoned by the Georgian security service and asked to limit his church activities. Security agents informed him that diplomatic obligations took precedence over asylum laws.

In contrast, the Georgian Migration Service, in defense of its policies, claims that Iranian Christians will not face serious threats if they return to their country, a claim that completely contradicts reports from the United Nations and independent international organizations about the detention and harassment of Christian citizens in Iran.

Finally, the report’s authors called on the Georgian government to respect “the diversity of Christian beliefs” and to take into account the data of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of freedom of religion or belief in Iran in its decision-making. They also called on the international community to provide these refugees with new safe and legal pathways for resettlement.