Heisei 30 Nen (Gyou-ko), No 232
nationality of the former Soviet Union. 17 Until the beginning of 1993, he had his
habitual residence in Tbilisi, where he was educated in the Russian language and
undertook military service in the former Soviet Union army. 18
The administration of Georgia at the time of its independence in April 1991
enacted a nationality law that imposed rigid conditions on non-ethnic Georgians
who sought to acquire Georgian nationality. 19 Despite his mother’s ethnicity and
his limited comprehension of the Armenian language, Georgia considered the
plaintiff an ethnic Armenian because of the ethnicity of his father. 20 Due to the
plaintiff’s presumed ethnicity and his place of birth, the status of his nationality
remained unsettled during the transitional period between the former Soviet Union
and Georgian independence. When the former Soviet Union collapsed in
December 1991, the plaintiff's nationality of the former Soviet Union ceased to
exist, and he was unable to acquire the newly affiliated nationality. 21
In 1991, the Gamsakhurdia administration of Georgia employed a
discriminatory policy to exclude non-Georgians. Many non-Georgians were not
protected by the police; rather, they were abused. 22 Consequently, the nonGeorgian population in Georgia declined precipitously as minorities fled the
state. 23 The plaintiff was also assaulted and robbed in this abusive climate. 24 The
plaintiff could not expect protection from Georgia’s police. On the contrary, he
feared that the police would harass him. Unable to withstand the situation, he fled
Georgia and entered Russia in early 1993. In Russia, the plaintiff was neither
permitted to acquire Russian nationality nor become a resident. 25
As the plaintiff was informed that refugees were more likely to be protected in
Germany, he decided to enter Germany via Poland. 26 After his departure from
Russia, he applied for refugee status in Poland, Germany, France, Spain, Norway,
Ireland and the United Kingdom. 27 However, he was either not recognised as a
refugee or unable to confirm the outcomes of his applications. 28 In the United
Kingdom, he tried to acquire Russian nationality. 29 Nevertheless, he was unable
to do so as the Russian Embassy requested a certificate that was extremely difficult
for him to obtain. 30 In 2010, after his attempts to receive international protection
in Europe failed, he left the United Kingdom with a forged passport, entered Japan
and applied for refugee status. 31
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
ibid 10.
ibid.
ibid 15–16.
ibid 11–12.
ibid 18.
Ibid 15–20.
ibid 15.
ibid 3, 14, 19–20.
ibid 21.
ibid 22.
ibid 22–23.
ibid.
ibid 23.
ibid.
ibid 24.
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