The Indian government has taken up the matter of denial of entry to Indian students by Georgia, Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj has said. The ministry had received multiple complaints from Indians who said they had valid visas to travel to Georgia.
“I have spoken to His Excellency Mr. Mikheil Janelidze, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. He assured me that he will look in to this matter personally and resolve this,” Swaraj tweeted on April 11.
Swaraj was earlier approached on the social media platform by a man called Prashant Kamalakar, who said: “Why Georgian Government denying entry for Indian students in Georgia even after having valid D3 visa. Deported Students and their parents wants to meet you. Please suggest the time and place where we can meet to discuss the issue. #SOS.”
In response to Kamalakar’s tweet, Swaraj said, “I am aware of this case. Indian Embassy has taken this up with the Georgian authorities. They are pursuing this matter. I have asked for a further update on this.”
Many others also responded to Kamalakar’s tweet, saying they too have had similar experiences.
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A Twitter user named Akash said that he traveled to Georgia in January and was deported “for no reason,” even though they had sufficient documents and enough cash. “I have sent a mail to Sushma Swaraj and many other ministers dealing with external affairs but no response,” he added.
Another Twitter user, Dibakar, said that his Student Resident Card was rejected as sufficient document. He appealed to the court in October 2017 but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Georgia and the Indian High Commission in Armenia have not responded. There is no Indian mission in Georgia and the ambassador to Armenia is accredited to Georgia as well.
Meanwhile, in another incident on March 26, an Indian man said that he was deported while traveling with his family on a holiday to Georgia.
“#Deported from #Georgia after being asked how much money I had, despite having provided all relevant papers. All this despite possession of around $300 in hard cash and more money in card. Rude treatment by #immigration officers to me and parents,” Varun Madan Mohan tweeted.
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“The harrowing episode came to an end after being reunited with family in Bahrain. In light of all previous similar incidents, treatment definitely seems to have a #racist element. Are we Indians going to keep quiet about such #injustice? @SushmaSwaraj ji please do something,” he tweeted.
His father Madan Mohan Ambat had also tweeted to Swaraj, saying that he and his family went through a harrowing experience while trying to enter Georgia.
“Georgian border police is deporting Indians with valid e-visa. They treat genuine Indian tourists as criminals. My family had a very bad experience when my son was denied entry when he traveled from DEL with e-visa despite pleading with them that we were together. Happening regularly,” he tweeted.