Georgian PM to address parliament on migration issues

Georgia’s Prime Minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, is set to appear before parliament in an interpellation session on February 18 to discuss migration matters.

Kobakhidze will engage with lawmakers on policies and challenges related to migration, Caliber.Az reports via Georgian media.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said that Georgia has expelled more foreign nationals over the past year than in the previous ten years combined.

He described migration as a matter of growing public concern.

Preliminary census data put Georgia’s population at 3.91 million, with foreigners – including undocumented migrants – making up no more than 6.6%. Around 70% are citizens of post-Soviet countries, the EU, the US, and Israel, with at least 40,000 being former Georgian citizens or individuals with Georgian surnames.

Authorities said over 20,000 undocumented migrants still live in Georgia and announced plans to strengthen the Interior Ministry’s migration department to remove them within a few years. From March 1, restrictions on foreign labour will be significantly tightened.

While foreign students contribute roughly 300 million lari annually to the economy and have created over 10,000 jobs, officials warned that curtailing programmes for them could harm Georgia’s economy, budget, and employment levels.

Kobakhidze also said that European integration is a constitutional task for Georgia, but the public also needs to be aware of its drawbacks.

“People are told that after Estonia joined the EU, its economy doubled. If you look at the period from 2003 to the present and compare the economic growth of Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Georgia, Georgia’s economy has grown more than the countries that joined the European Union,” Irakli Kobakhidze said.

He added that, to avoid creating excessive expectations, society must have a clear understanding of the economic consequences that European integration entails.

By Aghakazim Guliyev