On 26th April 2022, the British Citizen and social anthropologist Aida Balafkan was denied entry to the Republic of Georgia and immediately deported to Great Britain, via Munich, without being given any reason. She was travelling with her spouse, the social anthropologist Dr. Stefan Williamson Fa, also a British citizen, who was allowed to enter Georgia without any problem.

Aida has previously visited Georgia without any problems and has dedicated her PhD studies to researching the traditions of textile weaving in the country. She was not interviewed nor asked to provide evidence of her travel plans. She was not questioned about any plans for research and neither were any documents checked in this regard, although Prof. Tamta Khalvashi from the Ilia State University had provided her with an ethical clearance for her research endeavour in southeast Georgia.

The Georgian authorities did not give Aida any explanation for denying her entry nor for her immediate deportation. Once seated on the plane back to Munich her passport was returned to her with a document which listed “other” as the only reason for denial of entry. Her treatment by the border guards was rude, intimidating, and dehumanising, she was denied any means of communication with her husband and was not allowed to speak to the British Embassy in Tbilisi.

It appears that Aida was deported solely on the basis of her ethnic background and suspicion towards her place of birth. This represents a violation of international legal norms and procedures that the Republic of Georgia has subscribed to. Furthermore, it also now calls into question whether Georgia is a safe place for the international scholarly community not only with respect to carrying out research there, but also with regards to hosting international conferences and other forms of academic exchange that are so important for Georgian society and academia at large.    

The wider implications of this humiliating treatment far exceed the immediate, individual consequences for Aida who currently has no desire to return to Georgia given her treatment. The incident also seriously puts into question an international conference, co-hosted by Lund University in Sweden, scheduled for October 2022 at the Ilia State University, as there would be delegates from different countries from different ethnic and religious backgrounds. Without any credible reassurance that what happened to Aida cannot be repeated – a reassurance that looks rather unlikely in the given situation – the participants of the conference cannot be exposed to such risks and thus, the conference will have to be cancelled or moved to another safer location.

The increasing number of cases of racial profiling and arbitrary denial of entry to Georgia shows a complete disregard for the country’s own visa policies and entry regulations, thereby putting travellers of all nationalities seeking to enter the country at risk. The same problem of potential deportation also applies to other students and scholars from Iranian and other backgrounds who visit Georgia e.g. in the framework of the Erasmus Exchange Program, which fundamentally undermines the running of such international programs. This is a serious blow to the Georgian scholarly community as well as to Georgian Studies at large. We thus appeal to the political authorities, especially within the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs, to a) explain this incident and, b) take any steps possible to prevent such deportations in the future.

Signed by:

1. Florian Mühlfried, Ilia State University, Georgia
2. Tamta Khalvashi, Ilia State University
3. William Dunbar
4. David Jishkariani
5. Nini Shvelidze, PhD student at Ilia State University (Film studies)
6. Shorena Tevzadze
7. Tamta Melashvili, Ilia State University
8. Benjamin M. Wheeler - Mountains of Tongues
9. Mariam Shalvashvili - PhD Student at Ilia State University
10. Nutsa Batiashvili, Free University of Tbilisi
11. Alexander Kavtaradze, PhD Student, Ilia State University
12. Ellada Rizali
13. Stefan Williamson Fa, Lund University, Sweden
14. Marina Decristoforo, PhD (Columbia University 2021)
15. Esma Berikishvili, Ilia State Univerisity
16. Nana Saralishvili, Ilia State University
17. Nino Abzianidze, Associate Professor/GIPA, Senior Research Fellow/CSS
18. Lela Rekhviashvili, Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography, Germany
19. George Sanikidze, Ilia State University
20. Natia Sartania
21. Mariam Chachia
22. Tamar Qeburia, PhD student, Ilia State U/Georgia, U of Göttingen/Germany
23. Luka Nakhutsrishvili, Ilia State University
24. Jonas A. Löffler, University of Cologne (Germany)
25. Tornike Metreveli, Lund University
26. Paul Manning, Trent University
27. Lika Jalagania, Ilia State University
28. Evelina Gambino, UCL
29. Maia Barkaia, GIPA.
30. Katharina Stadler
31. Olga Doletskaya, SSEES UCL
32. Martin Demant Frederiksen, Associate Professor, University of Aarhus, Denmark
33. Ketevan Skhiladze, Graduate Student and Ilia State University
34. William Hofmann, PhD SOAS, AIIS Senior Performing Arts Fellow
35. Sopho Pheradze
36. Latavra Shukvani
37. Ketevan Kimeridze The University of Georgia
38. Salome Tsopurashvili, Ilia State University
39. Thomas Wier, Free University of Tbilisi
40. Rik Adriaans (Lecturer, UCL)
41. Nargiza Arjevanidze
42. Tamar Skhiladze
43. Tinatin Soziashvili Tbilisi State University
44. David Rypel (UCL SSEES)
45. Tamta Mikeladze, Ilia State University, Georgia
46. Alessandro Cancian, The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London
47. Barbara Need, William Rainey Harper College (IL); Tompkins Cortland Community College (NY); SUNY Cortland (NY)
48. Teona Piranishvili
49. Brianna Quintero, San Diego State University Georgia
50. Makar Tereshin, UCL
51. Jonelle Twum, Black Archives Sweden
52. Aivazishvili-Gehne, Nino / RECET Vienna
53. Julia E. Fa, Manchester Metropolitan University
54. Vera Skvirskaja, The University of Copenhagen, Denmark
55. Mariam Darchiashvili, Assistant Professor, Ilia State University
56. Ana Mgeladze, Free University of Tbilisi
57. Wiebke Rademacher, Music and Arts University of the City if Vienna
58. Manana Tsereteli The University of Georgia
59. Timothy K. Blauvelt, Ilia State University
60. Mariam Darchiashvili, Ilia State University
61. John Horan, BBC
62. Kevin Tuite, Université de Montréal
63. Costanza Curro, University of Helsinki
64. Christopher Manning
65. Dato Laghidze, Ilia State University
66. Elene Gavashelishvili, Ilia State University
67. Jack Watkins, PhD student Birkbeck University, London
68. Koko Alhusainy
69. Imran Jamal - SOAS, University of London
70. Adrija Dey, University of Westminster
71. Sophie Chamas, SOAS, University of London
72. Sandro Lominashvili, Artistic Director of SOU Festival
73. Ed Hadfield, University of Westminster
74. Rana Baker, Columbia University
75. Ekaterine Chavchanidze, (GIPA invited lecturer)
76. Shreeta Lakhani, SOAS
77. Oliver Reisner, Ilia State University
78. Nora Wuttke, SOAS
79. Adam Drazin, Associate Professor, UCL London
80. Hubertus Jahn, Professor of the History of Russia and the Caucasus, University of Cambridge
81. Bahman Heidari, Tehran University
82. Iskandar Ding, SOAS University of London
83. Zaal Andronikashvili, Leibniz-Zentrum für Literatur- ubd Kulturforschung/ Ilia State University Tbilisi
84. Leon Aslanov, UCL
85. Oliver Scharbrodt, Lund University
86. Mete Ulutaş, Boğaziçi University
87. Alexander Jabbari, University of Oklahoma
88. Rachel Naylor, Goethe University--Frankfurt am Main, Germany
89. Yousef Al-Saraf, SOAS University of London
90. Roni Kahraman
91. Mirabbos Khikmatilloev
92. Diana Yayloyan, METU
93. Andria Rogava, Georgian National Museum
94. Clément Girardot
95. Lia Tsuladze, Associate Professor of Sociology, Tbilisi State University
96. Ketevan Gurchiani, Professor of Anthropology, Ilia State University
97. David Barreto Ian
98. Justin Balcor, University of Illinois
99. Nihan Kalle
100. Tural Ismayilzada, Middle East Technical University
101. Dr. Hernando Echeverri S.
102. Larysa Mykhailivna, Kyiv National University faculty
103. Nurkhon Saidasanov
104. John Collins, Seattle University
105. Ana Chkhaidze, UC San Diego
106. Timothy Merkel
107. Marina Saryan
108. Sophie Zviadadze, Ilia State University
109. Lako Gamkrelidze, PhD student at Ilia State University
110. Dr Rosalie Allain (University of Oxford)
111. Tsypylma Darieva, ZOiS Berlin
112. Anni Movsisyan, University of Westminster
113. Tayba Ahmed
114. Anni Movsisyan, University of Westminster
115. Daryan Omer
116. Daniel Barry, PhD Candidate, the Graduate Center (CUNY)
117. Mia Sullivan
118. Alexander Kakabadze
119. Shanaz Said
120. Elene Naveriani, Filmaker
121. Haneen Shlebak, SOAS
122. Romina Markaroğlu
123. Dr Ignacia Arteaga, University of Cambridge
124. Anton Popov, Aston University
125. Barat Achinuq, University of Oxford
126. Nada Al-Hudaid, Lund University, Sweden
127. Matthew Zaslansky, UC San Diego
128. Tsovinar Sukiasyan (YSU)
129. Nino Pertenava, Cornell University
130. Zachary Norbash (University of St Andrews and SOAS, University of London)
131. Konstantin Chachanidze
132. Keti Machavariani Gipa
133. Greta Pizzuti
134. David Isakadze
135. Sandy Nicoll, SOAS UNISON
136. Pauline Destrée, University of St Andrews
137. Barbare Janelidze, University of Kassel
138. Marika Kochiashvili, photographer/artist
139. Ian Williamson, physics teacher
140. Mariam Camilla Rechchad
141. Andy Moxley
142. Tamar Babuadze, Indigo, Ilia State University
143. Simon Besse
144. SOAS University India Society, London
145. Yousif Al-Hilli University of Birmingham
146. Maisie Fitzmaurice, PRIO
147. Fabio Vicini, University of Verona
148. Oula Kadhum, Lund University and London School of Economics
149. SOAS University Vostok Society, London
150. Adham Smart
151. Markus Sattler, Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography, Leipzig, Germany
152. Asli Sh Qurbani, ISMC, London
153. Francisco Martínez, Estonian Academy of Arts
154. Joseph Harley
155. Laure Delcour, University Sorbonne Nouvelle
156. Teo Khatiashvili, Ilia State University
157. Elnur Aliyev (Alisoy), Caucasian Heritage Research Institute
158. Benjamin Bamberger, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
159. Nada Ladraa, MOC Bruxelles
160. Zubin Mistry
161. Joseph Alexander Smith
162. Bakar Migriauli, artist
163. Dr Joanne Shortt Butler
164. Karli Storm-Närväinen, University of Eastern Finland
165. Tamta Tatarashvili. Doctoral student Ilia State University
166. Hasan Sahragard
167. Kerstin Klenke (Austrian Academy of Sciences / Phonogrammarchiv)
168. Nana Kobidze
169. Simon Garibyan, PhD student, University of Southern California, USA
170. Derek Basler, Central European University
171. Hani Rocha El Bizri, University of Salford
172. Professor Stephen Garnett, Charles Darwin University
173. Dorle Dracklé, University of Bremen
174. Mehdi Mahjoub
175. John A. Graham, Ph.D Princeton, Independent Musicologist
176. Stefan Tolz, Programm Director ADAMI Media Prize for Cultural Diversity in Eastern Europe
177. Anna Cieślewska, Jagiellonian University
178. Guillermo Ros Brull
179. Bradley Cain, Manchester Metropolitan University
180. Laura Mafizzoli, PhD student, University of Manchester
181. Stefan Applis, University of Münster, Germany
182. Eva Ávila
183. Dr Tess Altman, University of Southampton
184. Jesús Olivero, University of Malaga
185. Dr. Álvaro Fernández-Llamazares, University of Helsinki, Finland
186. Martin Jones, Manchester Metropolitan University
187. Selvino de Kort, Manchester Metropolitan University
188. Soso Salukvadze, Tbilisi State University
189. Kendra Dias
190. Nana Takvarelia, Development Professional
191. Stéphane Voell, University of Marburg
192. Tinatin Khomeriki, llia State University
193. Klaudia Kosicińska, Polish Academy of Sciences
194. Elena Darjania, Free University of Tbilisi
195. Gabriel Baqradze
196. Matthew Knight, Ph.D. (University of Illinois, 2019)
197. Giorgi Tskhadaia, Associate Professor, Caucasus University
198. Gorkem Aydemir George Washington University
199. René Fellix, France
200. Divya Yellapu
201. Jesús Duarte, Ph.D. Universidad de Málaga
202. Giorgi Kikabidze, Journalist
203. Sophio Tchanishvili, Tbilisi State Academy of Art
204. Ketevan Kalandadze UCL London
205. Davit Naskidashvili,  Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University
206. Manouchehr Shiva
207. Stephen Jones, Harvard University
208. Vakhtang Natsvlishvili, TSU
209. Ani Balasania
210. Florian Schwarz, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Iranian Studies
211. Miguel Ángel Farfán Aguilar (University of Málaga)
212. Pauline Harlay, SOAS
213. Yegor Grebnev, BNU-HKBU United International College
214. Giga Karapetiani, Ilia State University/TSU
215. Lily Burckhardt, PhD San Diego
216. Tilmann Kulke, Ilia State University
217. Adam Gethin-Jones
218. Sihong Lin, University of Sheffield
219. Maroussia Ferry, IHEID-CCDP
220. Burak Güneralp, Texas A&M University
221. Ralph Hälbig