New Delhi: In July 2025, When Meera’s son, Suman, left Qatar to study medicine in Georgia, her family thought they were securing his future. Instead, after five years of financial sacrifice and tireless paperwork, Suman returned home traumatised, handcuffed, physically assaulted, and deported without explanation. “They destroyed his dreams and treated him like a criminal just because of his skin colour,” Meera says.In June 2025, Rajesh, an Indian humanitarian worker with years of international travel experience, had planned a holiday in Georgia. With a valid e-visa and confirmed return tickets, he had expected no trouble. But after landing in Tbilisi, he too was detained for hours, denied access to his phone or lawyer, and deported with no clear reason.“I have travelled globally, but this was the first time I was treated like an unwanted person because of my nationality,” Rajesh says. “It was humiliating.”A number of Indian and Pakistani nationals report humiliating detentions, opaque deportations, and systemic racial profiling at Georgian borders. Many families, out of fear of retaliation, refuse to go on record. That “fear is itself a symptom of the abuse”, says Adil, a lawyer based in Tbilisi.Behind Georgia’s tourism façadeGeorgia has marketed itself for years as a gateway between Europe and Asia, luring students and tourists with simple visa processes and affordable universities. Indian arrivals alone spiked to over 6,500 in a single month in 2017. But even then, Indian nationals topped entry denial lists. In 2025, according to testimonies gathered by The Wire, the situation has worsened, particularly for India.Adil, an immigration lawyer specialising in student cases and affiliated with a well-known law firm in Tbilisi, says:“The number of deportations targeting Indian and Pakistani nationals has sharply increased. People with valid visas are being rejected arbitrarily, detained, and deported without clear explanation or due process.”Fear of speaking out looms large.“Almost every family we speak to refuses to go public,” Adil notes. “That silence shows how fearful they are of further harassment.”Targeted, humiliated, and deportedRajesh was detained at Tbilisi International Airport without any formal charge. After routine questioning, he was led into a separate room, had his belongings confiscated, and was detained for eight hours without access to his phone or legal counsel.“They didn’t explain anything – just stamped my passport and deported me under some vague legal clause,” he says.Meera’s son Suman’s ordeal stretched over nearly three years. Each year, the family did rounds of paperwork just to keep him in Georgia – whether it was visa extensions, TRC (Temporary Residence Card) renewals, or university documentation for his medical studies in Tbilisi. The family was forced to hire a lawyer to navigate the bureaucratic hurdles. Then, without warning, came violent detention.“His deportation followed systemic failures,” Meera says. “They rejected his paperwork over minor errors like a wrong email address, suddenly denied his TRC renewal, and kept rejecting visas without any real explanation.”The violence was shocking. Suman was arrested by plainclothes officers while walking outside his flat, mocked for his skin colour, handcuffed so tightly his hands bruised, denied water, and spat on. He was detained for two days and then put on a plane.“He was treated like a criminal. Like his life didn’t matter,” Meera says.Financial loss and traumaFor Meera’s family, the ordeal wiped out their life savings.“We spent over $25,000 on fees, lawyers, housing – everything is gone,” she says. “All we wanted was for our son to get a degree and a future.”Rajesh lost over $1,500 in travel and accommodation costs, but says the psychological impact was far worse.“It left me rattled and embarrassed in a way I’ve never experienced before,” he says.Suman, too, has been struggling mentally since his return.“He has nightmares, can’t sleep, is anxious and scared. He’s broken inside,” Meera says.‘Racial profiling’Lawyers like Adil say Georgia’s increasing alignment with EU migration policies has come at a cost: an unspoken rule of racial profiling.“White travellers pass freely through immigration, while brown and Black people are targeted, detained, and deported,” Adil explains.Suman reported overcrowded detention cells, spoiled food, and other Indian students imprisoned for months with no access to legal support or their embassies. Many students were deported just days before their graduation ceremonies.“My son saw people who had completed nearly five years of medical school suddenly deported,” Meera says. “No explanation, no justice. We do want him to go back now and try to get a visa, otherwise his five years will be wasted”India’s silenceDespite repeated reports, the Indian government has not issued any warning about Georgia. Families feel abandoned.“Where is the Indian government? Why isn’t anyone helping us?” Meera asks. “We paid full fees, we followed every rule, and we were humiliated.”Rajesh agrees:“We are the world’s largest democracy. Why is our government silent while our people are being mistreated abroad?”The Wire contacted the Georgian Embassy in India seeking comment or clarification. In response, the Embassy stated:“Kindly note it is beyond the competency of the Embassy to involve with Border Security matter. Please contact Ministry of Internal Affairs, Georgia for this concern.”However, no further avenue was provided for affected individuals or journalists to raise or resolve concerns. The website is disorganised and difficult to navigate “designed to tire you out,” as one frustrated parent put it. “Even locating a basic point of contact or complaint mechanism proves nearly impossible,” said Rajesh.‘Too scared to speak’This is perhaps the most revealing aspect of the crisis: families are afraid to go public.“We’re afraid that if we speak, our children will be targeted again,” Meera says. “That fear says everything about how unsafe we feel in Georgia.”In interviews with The Wire, the participants declined to be named, citing fear of reprisals or difficulties in securing visas elsewhere. Many report that lawyers took their money but failed to deliver any legal recourse.“Even now, we are speaking with pseudonyms. We have no protection,” Meera says. “We just don’t want other families to go through what we did.”A crisisThe testimonies from Meera, Rajesh, and Adil paint a chilling picture of state-sponsored racial profiling, opaque deportation practices, and systemic human rights violations.As Georgia seeks closer ties with the EU, it must be held accountable for upholding basic human rights, not just border toughness. Equally, the silence from Indian authorities must be called out.“They took our money, crushed our dreams, and left us broken,” Meera says. “We demand dignity, justice, and an end to this racism.”All names in the piece have been changed to protect interviewees who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation.