Germany, Georgia sign agreement to address irregular migration

• Agreement to facilitate return of migrants whose asylum applications rejected by German authorities
  
• Germany to offer new opportunities for Georgian students, trainees, academic researchers
  

BERLIN

Germany and Georgia signed an agreement on Tuesday to regulate migration and increase cooperation in the fields of education and research.

The agreement was signed between German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and her Georgian counterpart Wakhtang Gomelauri in the capital Tbilisi.

Faeser said the agreement will further strengthen the cooperation between the two countries in addressing irregular migration and offer new opportunities for Georgian students and academic researchers.

She said the German government wants to regulate and control migration by concluding such agreements with partner countries.

“We are enabling the emigration of skilled workers that we urgently need in many industries. At the same time, we are making it clear with binding agreements that people without the right to remain in Germany will return,” she said.

The German Interior Ministry said in a statement that the agreement will facilitate the return of economically motivated irregular migrants from Georgia whose asylum applications were rejected by the authorities.

The two countries will set up a bilateral expert group to discuss legal migration and job opportunities for Georgian citizens in the German labor market.

Germany will also offer new opportunities for Georgian students, trainees and academic researchers with various academic exchange programs.