Belarusian Activist Expelled From Georgia Applies for Asylum in Armenia
Reform.news Editorial Team · 31 October 2026, 14:29
https://reform.news/en/belarusian-activist-expelled-from-georgia-applies-for-asylum-in-armenia/Belarusian activist Leu Mikheyeu, who was expelled from Georgia to Armenia on September 25, applied for political asylum a month later. In an interview with Pozirk, he described the application process and his life in the new country.
Mikheyeu applied to the Migration and Citizenship Service of Armenia’s Interior Ministry in Yerevan together with a lawyer. In the application form, he stated the reasons why he had been forced to leave Belarus and later Georgia.
In Armenia, he was issued an asylum seeker’s document valid for three months. If his application is not reviewed within that period, the document’s validity will be extended. According to the activist, migration service officials expect to make a decision within three months, although the process may take slightly longer.
The next step will be obtaining an internal card that entitles him to access services available to asylum seekers and receive financial assistance of about $55. He is later expected to be invited for an interview, which he intends to attend with a lawyer and a certified interpreter.
Before that, Mikheyeu spent about five years unsuccessfully seeking asylum in Georgia. Georgian authorities finally rejected his application on June 29, 2026. He was detained on September 25 and expelled to Armenia the same day. There, he was detained because he is wanted internationally at the request of the Belarusian authorities, but was released shortly afterwards.
Since 2020, Georgia has become one of the destinations for Belarusian emigrants who face persecution or fear repression in their homeland. However, Georgian authorities have not granted any asylum applications submitted by Belarusians.
Armenia grants asylum to Belarusian citizens.
On October 29, Mikheyeu took part in the “Night of the Executed Poets” memorial event for repressed members of the Belarusian intelligentsia. According to him, it was the only such event in the Caucasus.