B. Establishments for foreign nationals deprived of their liberty under aliens legislation; (Read full CPT report)
32. The CPT’s delegation carried out a first-time visit to Georgia’s only immigration detention
facility (opened in 2014), the Temporary Accommodation Centre of the Migration Department of
the Ministry of Internal Affairs (hereafter, TAC or the Centre). Located in Varketili district of
Tbilisi, the Centre had the capacity of 96 places (in three separate units – for adult men,29 adult
women30 and families with children31) and was accommodating, at the time of the visit, 18 detained
foreign nationals32 including 16 adult men and two adult women (there were no children). None of
them was an asylum seeker. The longest staying detainee had been at the Centre since 3 months, the
average stay was said to be 1.5 to 2 months. 33. According to the 2014 Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons (the Aliens Act), a foreign national may be detained
33 by the police and held at a TDI for a maximum of 48 hours. Prolongation of detention beyond this period requires a court decision and the foreign national must be immediately transferred to the TAC. The placement decision is for 3 months maximum, and may be prolonged by a court decision for the maximum of another 6 months. If a foreign national has not been deported within 9 months, he/she must be released from the TAC. It is noteworthy that, save in exceptional circumstances where it is justified by the need to protect, for a very short period of time, the person’s interests, detention of unaccompanied minors is prohibited (they are instead taken care of by child protection authorities and placed in foster families).
34. The delegation did not receive any allegations of ill-treatment by staff from the TAC, and
most of the interviewed foreign nationals spoke positively about the staff (including custodial
officers). Further, it appeared that conflicts between detained foreign nationals were rare and never
of any serious nature. The overall atmosphere at the Centre was relaxed.
35. Material conditions at the TAC were generally very good. The accommodation was spacious
(rooms for three to eight persons, measuring from some 50 to approximately 80 m²), well
furnished,34 bright and had an efficient cooling/heating system35 and ventilation. Throughout the
day, foreign nationals could move freely within their living units and had unlimited access to
communal toilets, washrooms, showers and laundries with new washing machines. Hygiene items
were provided free of charge and warm food served three times a day. That said, some complaints were heard about the quality of the food (absence of fresh vegetables and fruit) and the impossibility to buy fresh food in the shop. The Georgian authorities are invited to verify the quality of the food offered to foreign nationals detained at the TAC and to increase the range of food items available for sale. Further, offering the detainees the possibility to cook their meals by themselves should be seriously considered.
36. As regards activities, each unit had a recreation area with sofas, chairs, tables, a TV set (with
many foreign channels) and some books and board games. Further, during the day detainees had
access to a large outdoor yard equipped for foot-, volley- and basketball (for at least 3 hours per
day), and could play table tennis and use computers with access to the Internet. Overall, the offer of activities could thus be considered adequate. However, the CPT invites the Georgian authorities to make more efforts to offer some organised activities (e.g. lectures, handicraft, art and cooking classes) to foreign nationals accommodated at the Centre for extended periods (up to several months).
