‘Too Late’: Khangoshvili Family Case Highlights Shift in German Deportation Policy

Author: Florian Sädler

Weeks have passed since several family members of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Georgian citizen of Chechen descent who was assassinated in Berlin by a Russian hitman in 2019, were deported from Germany to Georgia. Observers in both Germany and Georgia have voiced concern for their safety upon return, particularly for Zelimkhan’s brother, Zurab, who is among those deportees.

The family has declined to discuss their deportation publicly. A source within the Georgian-Chechen community told Civil.ge that they believe speaking out now would be “too late.” While the deportation was within the law, merely carrying out a court order, its timing reflects a broader, risky shift in German refugee policy.

That shift could particularly affect asylum seekers from Georgia, which continues to enjoy a “safe country” status even amid the country’s increasingly repressive environment.

„We have heard of several cases in which asylum applications from people who are clearly in need of protection, for example from the LGBTQI community, have been rejected on the grounds that Georgia is “safe”, Sonja Schiffers, the head of the Tbilisi office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, told Civil.ge. Yet, she explains, „According to the German Basic Law, such persons are entitled to protection in Germany, which we must comply with. “

Unsafe in Safe Country?

Germany added Georgia, along with Moldova, to its list of “safe countries” in 2023. The designation came under the so-called “Streetlight” (Ampel) coalition, a progressive alliance of the Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens, and the Free Democratic Party (FDP). German authorities define safe countries of origin as those where citizens generally face no fear of state persecution and where the state provides adequate protection. At the time, Germany’s Interior Ministry said that Georgia and Moldova together accounted for more than 10% of rejected asylum applications, while fewer than 0.3% of applications from Georgian citizens were approved.

While the decision was already criticized at the time by asylum rights groups, particularly over concerns about LGBTQI+ rights, conditions have changed drastically in both Berlin and Tbilisi since then.

Georgian Dream authorities have since introduced a series of repressive laws and moves targeting the opposition, independent media, civil society, and LGBTQI+ groups. More than a hundred people are currently in jail, tried or convicted in cases related to anti-government protests that erupted last November, including journalist and media manager Mzia Amaghlobeli, who was recently awarded the prestigious Sakharov Prize. Several opposition leaders also remain behind bars, with authorities continuing to press additional criminal charges week by week. Tbilisi’s relations with the West have grown increasingly strained, with ties between Georgia and Germany recently hitting their lowest point, including Berlin temporarily recalling its ambassador.

Georgia’s major democratic crisis coincided with political shifts in Berlin. It was also last November that Germany’s Streetlight coalition collapsed amid personal rifts between its leaders. In the subsequent February parliamentary elections, the three parties lost their majority and were replaced by a more conservatively leaning coalition led by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU), with the Social Democrats (SPD) serving as their junior partner.

The CDU/CSU campaigned heavily on a promise to tighten migration policies. Their leaders, including Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU), are convinced that a “different” asylum policy would be a necessary step to curb the rise of the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD). In the February elections, the AfD, an anti-migration force, secured around 20% of the vote, its best nationwide result to date, and its support has continued to grow since.

Shift, but with no shift

The deportation of the family of Zurab Khangoshvili, Zelimkhan’s brother, may reflect this very shift in German migration policy. Having initially fled Georgia for Sweden, Zurab later moved to Germany after his asylum application was rejected in 2022. In 2023, the Potsdam Administrative Court definitively denied his asylum claim. From that point on, he was classified as only “tolerated” in Germany.

The situation in “safe” Georgia, however, may not be risk-free for the family.

Zelimkhan Khangoshvili’s 2019 daylight murder in Berlin’s Tiergarten – later classified by German courts as a product of Russian state-ordered violence – is often linked to his involvement in the second Chechen war against Russia. Threats, however, had been made earlier against Khangoshvili’s whole family, as cited by German journalist Silvia Stöber in her book about the Tiergarten murder.

Zelimkhan himself previously fled Georgia after an earlier attempt on his life in 2015 there. His murderer, Vadim Krasikov, who was later revealed as an agent of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), has been released and personally welcomed by Russian President Vladimir Putin following his inclusion in a major prisoner exchange in 2024. Russian citizens can enter Georgia visa-free, and the Georgian ruling party is pursuing cautious and, some fear, increasingly friendly policies towards Moscow.

According to the German newspaper Die Zeit, the Khangoshvili family’s deportation was previously, in parts, delayed by members of the governing Streetlight coalition while it was in power. With the change in Germany’s government, however, the approach to deportations, too, appears to have changed.

The most recent available figures show that the total number of deportations from Germany in the first nine months of 2025 increased by nearly 20% compared to the previous year. Of the 17,651 people deported between January and September this year, 1,379 were from Georgia – the second-highest number after Türkiye.

Speaking to Civil.ge, Jürgen Hardt, the CDU/CSU Parliamentarian Group‘s foreign policy spokesperson, noted that a revision of Georgia’s status as a „safe country“ is an issue to be decided by domestic policy makers, the government, and the federal states. He also said he would “contradict the thesis that fundamental errors have been made in this case.“ And while not directly answering the question, none of Hardt’s responses sounded like there is much support in the CDU for revoking Georgia’s status as a „safe country“ – and this despite the clear acknowledgment of Tbilisi’s anti-democratic and anti-Western trajectory.

“Germany is losing Georgia as a partner in the region,“ he said in a phone interview, accusing Georgian Dream of using „repression” and „false claims“ to stay in power. “Under this government, better relations with Europe or even a rapprochement towards the European Union are out of the question.“

Pressure for change

While Hardt’s remarks reflect the deepening low in relations between Berlin and Tbilisi, they may not necessarily affect cooperation on migration issues.

Political will alone is often insufficient to increase deportation numbers. Obstacles to expulsions include differing protection mechanisms, as well as drawn-out court proceedings or countries of origin refusing to accept deportees. This is why, when a government does cooperate, the German authorities usually seize the opportunity. In late 2023, Tbilisi signed a “migration agreement” aimed at facilitating the return of Georgian nationals.

But with dramatic political shifts in Tbilisi potentially leaving an increasing number of Georgians exposed to human rights abuses, Berlin may need to reconsider its approach. Citing „increasing repressions“ within Georgia, Sonja Schiffers calls for pressure from opposition parties in the Bundestag to have the current status as a „safe country“ reviewed as soon as possible. She, however, acknowledges that change seems unlikely. 

„Within the coalition, at least the CDU will certainly oppose any revision“, she said of the chancellor’s party.

The change, however, may yet come from the German judiciary. In March, the Berlin Administrative Court ruled that “there are considerable doubts as to whether Georgia’s designation as a safe country of origin is compatible with EU law,” while reviewing the urgent motion of a Georgian couple of civil servants, who reported persecution for participating in protests against the “Russian laws.”

Florian Sädler is a journalist based in Berlin, Germany. He is currently a Marion-Dönhoff-Fellow at Civil.ge.

Also Read:

• 28/04/2025 – Op-ed | EU Must Prepare to Support Georgian Exiles
• 18/07/2023 – Belgium Removes Georgia From the List of Safe Countries of Origin