The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) has just published its latest Migration Drivers Report, on Georgia as a Country of Origin, and in which it found that the Russian invasion of Ukraine drove Georgian nationals to apply for asylum in the EU. The findings are consistent with recent EUAA analyses that show the invasion pushed Russians and other former Soviet bloc nationals to apply for protection in Europe.

The report provides up-to-date information on asylum-related migration to the EU+, it analyses push factors such as the political and security situation, the state of play on human rights, as well as other migration enabling factors.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has had – and is predicted to continue having – a significant economic and socio-political impact on Georgia:

• The invasion has pushed people from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia to Tbilisi; with a resulting increase in demand for housing, and rental prices that are up by 101% year-over-year (as of May 2022).
• Year-on-year inflation is high at 13%, and the unemployment rate reached 19 % in the first quarter of 2022.
• A March 2022 survey of 2 024 Georgians noted that 81 % believe the war in Ukraine would continue to negatively affect their family’s economic wellbeing.

Over the first four months of 2022, EU+ countries received 8.075 asylum applications from Georgian citizens, which is a 183 % year-over-year increase. Furthermore, in the first quarter of 2022, 390 Georgian nationals were granted temporary protection status in EU+ countries. Most applications were received by five EU Member States including France (2.725), Germany (2.455), Italy (1.100), Ireland (420) and Belgium (315).
Read and download the report here.