Georgia might be a lesser-known name when it comes to destinations that travellers love, but it is quickly rising the charts as a coveted country Indians
are now visiting. But some experiences leave a bad taste. An Indian woman has accused Georgian border officials of treating 56 Indian tourists “inhumanely” while they were trying to cross into Armenia. The woman, Dhruvee Patel, said the group was stopped at Sadakhlo, a key border crossing between Georgia and Armenia. According to her, the travellers were made to sit in freezing weather for hours, without food or even a washroom break. In a post on Instagram, Patel claimed that border authorities took away their passports and denied them access to phones or any communication. “We were forced to sit on the footpath like cattle. They took videos of us like criminals but stopped us from filming,” she wrote. Patel also alleged that the authorities didn’t even check their travel documents properly but still claimed that their visas were “wrong.” Calling the treatment “shameful and unacceptable,” she said this is how Georgia behaves with Indian tourists. Her post has sparked debate online. Some users condemned Georgia, with one writing, “Many of my friends from UAE have faced similar situations & challenges some even with toddlers were treated like criminals .. I could say better to boycott Georgia completely..Lots of scams & racism in Georgia not worth it.” Another traveller also shared her experience. "It’s true, I’m a Singaporean Chinese visiting Georgia for the first time and spent 10+ mins at the immigration counter. Lady was shocked when i said I’m here for tourism and 2 months, and asked to show her my bank account. I can’t imagine other people having it worse. I’ve also witnessed a Georgian lady spitting in front of a halal restaurant and scolding them. Also Tbilisi’s vibe is really not it. But if you’re out of the city people are much better," she wrote. Others tried to explain the situation. One user wrote to Dhruvee, "So, my wife and I visit Georgia earlier this year. We wanted to visit Armenia too - but from India visas were not granted for Armenia . Now the whole cause in your case must be most likely because you wanted to visit Georgia from Armenia. Armenia has had impacts of illegal trespassing of people towards Russia . And Armenia being in a critical geographical reason and geo political reason in terms of nato, EU and Brics - Georgian immigration feels sceptical and vice Versa. Try visiting Georgia directly from India sometime - if you weren’t able to visit this time (which is very sad) . Directly visiting would not be such a problem."
