Border Police of Georgia


The Border Police of Georgia is the primary border guarding force and coast guard in the country of Georgia, and is under command of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It is responsible for patrolling the entire 1839 km land border of Georgia, as well as the country's 310 km coastline and territorial waters in the Black Sea. However, border control at checkpoints is instead performed by the Patrol Police department. The current chief is Temur Kekelidze.

History

Formation of the Border Police began shortly after Georgia regained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and was officially formed in 1992 as a paramilitary unit within the Ministry of Defense. In 1994, the agency separated from the Ministry of Defence to become the independent State Border Defence Department. In the following years, the Coast Guard Service and the Border Aviation Service were formed as part of the new department, in 1998 and 1999 respectively. On February 11, 2004, the State Border Defence Department was absorbed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and was reclassified as a law-enforcement agency in 2006.
The Georgian Immigration Enforcement Training Video Unit works to improve training methods for immigration enforcement operatives, in January 2020 it announced it had recorded its 4000th arrest.
The Border Police played a role in the Russo-Georgian War, which resulted in the loss of multiple Coast Guard ships and their crews at Poti and along the Abkhaz shore. Since the end of the war, the Coast Guard has continued to enforce the Georgian sea blockade of Abkhazia, arresting several commercial vessels traveling to and from Abkhazia on the Black Sea.

Chiefs of the MIA Border Police

№NameFromTo
1Badri BitsadzeJuly, 2006October 29, 2008
2Zaza GogavaNovember 4, 2008July 8, 2012
3Nika DzimtseishviliJuly 8, 2012????
4Zurab GamezardashviliNovember 2013November 22, 2016
5Dato NikoleishviliDecember 5, 2016????
6Temur KekelidzeFebruary 8, 2018Present

Organisation

The Border Police is composed of three internal departments: the Land Border Defence Department, the Special Aviation Main Office, and the Coast Guard.

Land Border Defence Department

The Land Border Defence Department is responsible for securing Georgia's land borders with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, and Turkey, a total distance of approximately 1839 km.

Coast Guard

Special Aviation Main Office

The Special Aviation Main Office assists the Land Border Defence Department and Coast Guard with air surveillance and personnel transportation. During times of natural disasters, they also conduct search and rescue missions, disaster relief efforts, and first aid services to victims.