The Tolerance and Diversity Institute of Georgia has released a statement regarding recent restrictions imposed by the government of Georgia for individuals coming from India to Georgia, including students, which sets a 14-day quarantine and allows entry in the country only by charter flight.

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  From April 15, despite Covid-19 vaccine passports, all Indian visitors entering Georgia will be required to present PCR test results from the proceeding 72 hours.

  After entering Georgia, individuals coming from India (regardless of their citizenship) will have to undergo mandatory 14-day quarantine, which should be financed by their own budget.

  According to the amendments, which have already entered into force, any person coming from India is obliged to present  a document confirming the full course of any type of Covid vaccine, while foreign students coming from India, regardless of their citizenship, full course of vaccination and negative PCR test, will have to undergo 14-day mandatory quarantine.

  Quarantine expenses of  six days for the foreign students who entered from India to Georgia on April 14 will be covered only once by the Georgian government , while the rest 8 day-quarantine should be financed by the students themselves (regardless of their citizenship).

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  The epidemic situation in India has been deteriorating recently. A total of 184,372 individuals have been tested positive for Covid-19 in the country in the last 24 hours, which is a record high daily rate of Covid-19 infection worldwide.

  In the last 24 hours, 1,027 Covid patients have died in India.

  There have been 13.9 million cases of Covid-19 in India since the Covid-19 outbreak began worldwide.

The statement reads that this decision may be considered discrimination on the grounds of nationality, citizenship and origin.

Selective measures approved by the government of Georgia against individuals / students from India are overly harsh, unreasonable, disproportionate and discriminatory. In 2020, under the Covid-19 pandemic, foreign students, especially Indian citizens, encountered a number of problems with studies. Part of the students left the country due to economic and financial difficulties and they could not return.

Given that Indian citizens already face many obstacles both in terms of entering Georgia and using various services in Georgia, these additional disproportionate restrictions further aggravate their legal and social status", reads the statement.

The Tolerance and Diversity Institute calls on the government of Georgia to immediately review the regulations imposed on individuals / students from India and to replace them with proportionate and non-discriminatory measures.