Belarusian asylum seeker, detained in Tbilisi last month, receives temporary ID

August 7, Pozirk. The Belarusian asylum seeker, who was briefly detained in Tbilisi last month, has received a temporary ID legalizing his stay in Georgia, he has told Pozirk.

The Tbilisi City Court ordered his release on July 18 after his arrest four days earlier.  

Michaił (Pozirk changed his name for his protection) moved to Georgia in 2016 and has never visited Belarus since then.

“I had studied at Minsk’s theology school and seminary and served in a church,” he said. “In Georgia, I lived in Batumi for five years and then in Tbilisi in the last four years. I work as a chef now.”

The man said he vocally supported 2020 protests against election fraud in Belarus in his social media posts that authorities in his home country use now as a pretext for criminal prosecution. He also took part in Belarusian solidarity events in Georgia. Authorities in Belarus have threatened to identify and punish participants in such gatherings.

I few years ago, Michaił received a call from a man who introduced himself as a Belarusian investigator. “He asked why I published [on his social media] fake news about Belarus and events that are taking place there. He said that [the protests] were paid for by America or Europe to destabilize the country,” he recalled.

After the 2020 presidential election, the Belarusian embassy in Tbilisi rejected Michaił’s request to change his passport, which was about to expire, for a new one. Now he does not have a valid Belarusian ID.

“Like many Belarusians, I thought at the time that the situation [in Belarus] would change soon . . . Unfortunately, it has not.”

Georgia’s Migration Department issued Michaił a temporary ID valid until August 2026.

“I can work officially. I can even marry in Georgia. I can receive medical assistance,” he said.

Based on the terms of his release, he must visit the Migration Department twice a week.

Georgian authorities have rejected all asylum requests from Belarusians in the last few years.

The ruling Georgian Dream party, accused of Kremlin links by its opponents, clashed with the European Union and the United States and made overtures to the Alaksandar Łukašenka regime.

President Mikheil Kavelashvili, elected by the oppositionless parliament, congratulated the Belarusian strongman on his “re-election” in January 2025, while most democratic nations condemned the poll as a sham. The methods employed by the Georgian government against the opposition are reminiscent of those employed in Belarus.

Also read: Tbilisi court rules to free Belarusian asylum seeker