Refugee Plight

REFUGEE  PLIGHT

By Stephen Wilson

 

             

'I would rather die at home , than in Russia. I am not recognized as a human being here "

 

             Syrian Refugee

              

'It is very difficult to be a refugee in Russia. I am very tired. Even Russians themselves live here as refugees'.

 

             Congolese Refugee reflecting on Russia.

 

            

´Run Toga, Run ' was the message sent by an anxious well-wisher to Bozobeyidou Batoma, a refugee recently brought by Russian police to an airport in Moscow for

deportation to the African Republic of Togo. The order for his deportation was made by a court in the Bryansk region of Russia. Despite an appeal against this court order, the police of Bryansk took the law into their own hands and decided to take him to a Russian airport. But should Batoma fall into the hands of the Toganese government he almost certainly faces torture or death. Batoma, a former presidential guard, had been arrested, detained and tortured for his opposition to a family dynastic dictatorship which has been in power since 1967. In 2014, Batoma managed to escape from prison and reach Russia where he requested political asylum. Almost 600 people {592} signed a petition in support of his case.

             When Second City Teacher made inquiries about his fate, nobody knew of his whereabouts never mind his fate. Valeria Pavlova, Media officer of the Civic Assistance  Committee told me "We don't know where he is or what has happened to him". It was as if he had just vanished into thin air. He'd disappeared. Batoma's plight is only one case among many where refugees have been deported by authorities that have no empathy or sympathy for refugees. The court rejected Batoma's plea by claiming the threat against him was 'mere speculation'. This is despite overwhelming International evidence pointing to the notorious brutality of the regime. Despite the fact that Article 63 of the Federation of the Russian Constitution declares Russia is obliged to offer political asylum to refugees,

this law is repeatedly violated again and again by the Russian authorities. As Svetlana Gannushkina , chairman of the Civic Assistance Committee puts it :

            

'The institution of asylum in Russia still practically does not function.' She adds, 'In 2018, the already insignificant number of refugees decreased by 20 people, dropping to 572 people. And still only two Syrians have refugee status in the Russian Federation ".

 

             

There is no doubt that the Russian authorities, as well as governments all over world have been hardening there response to refugees. Valeria Pavlova stated; "It's very difficult to get full refugee status. But there is temporary status of a maximum of up to one year. They can prolong this, but they have to go through the same process again by providing all the same documents.

             

It has become more difficult to get this temporary political asylum than 3 or 5 years ago. Now the courts are often refusing to prolong it. In 2018, the number of temporary asylums decreased by 27%. This is 30 less than the previous year. In 2018 only 30 people were recognized in Russia as official refugees. And this is even lower than in 2017."  Asked why so few Syrians have obtained refugee status , Valerie Pavlova explained "The Federal Migration Service refused to give Syrians refugee status , because they say the situation in Syria is stable and there is no war there. And the fact that your government allowed you to leave your country in the first place means you are not being persecuted by them. Another problem is that the Federal Migration Service asks refugees to prove practically everything".

             

Not surprisingly, given the fact some refugees are subjected to threats, police raids, harassment and basic rights to work, education and health, a few refugees come to the committee saying " I'm tired. I want to go home ".

       

Although Civic assistance Committee can provide some help , they don't have the resources to pay for the return tickets. But it is important people manage to pay for the tickets, otherwise they can be put into a detention center for 2 years. An indication of how disillusioned many refugees are is indicated by the fact that many of them think it is a waste of time talking to journalists. Some are afraid that if their names are published the authorities will pay more attention to preventing them from winning their cases. This seems a distinct rather than remote possibility.

 

             

The Civic Assistance Committee does provide refugees with some kind of aid such as free legal aid, advice , educational courses in Russian and Arabic as well as some material assistance. Pavlova stated : " The first person a refugee will be referred to is a specialist in migration who they can ask whether and how they can get refugee status. They want to know whether we have the resources to help them. They can apply for political asylum and we also have lawyers to help them in this matter. If they lose their case we can appeal to other courts for another decision ". The Committee also aids migrants and displaced people.

 

             

Although most activists state that the news is mainly bad rather than good, the Civic Assistance Committee has won some victories. One of those was in securing the right of some children of refugees to enter Russian state schools.

             

On the 15th August 2015, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation stated that lack of registration of parents or/and children 'Cannot be a reason to refuse to admit a child to an educational organisation if there are vacant places in it.'

             

Unfortunately, this decision has often been ignored by Moscow officials and some headmasters. Pavlova stated "If a school refuses to allow a child to study at a school we can take the school to court ". Denying children the right to an education in Russia represents a blatant violation of not only article 43 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation which allows all children the right, but of the law on education. Whether the child lacks registration or has poor Russian is immaterial. According to the Civic Assistance Committee report of 2018, the 'Committee's officials managed to get 26 children to school extra judicially in 2018, one child  to a kindergarten; a Ukrainian girl with a disability, who despite her state of health and refugee status in Russia, was not admitted to preschool, allegedly due to lack of registration at the place of residence in Russia. '

 

             

Valerie Pavlova states that the Committee encourages refugees to tell their narratives to the public in order to increase the awareness of their predicament. For instance, in the recent Civic Assistance Report you learn how Aida Sarkisova of Baku obtained a passport after 18 years of life without documents. You can hear how the refugee Traore on his way to Russian lessons during the Summer 2018 was detained, beaten up by police and had all his money stolen -1800 rubles.

             

The report also tells of the struggle of Mohammad Nasser from Afghanistan and Didier, who fled the Democratic Republic of Congo and came to Russia in 2015 after participating in protests against the government. Asked why he fled to Russia, Didier answered:

            

'I did not know that I was going to Russia. My documents were handled by relatives. One day, my uncle came back home with my passport and Russia visa. I did not even know what kind of country Russia was. I was taken to the airport at night, and on April 21st I flew to Moscow. My aunt's friends met me at at the airport in Moscow, and I lived with them for the first three months, but then I moved to another place '. But it is when Didier is asked what he thinks about Russia and his future plans that his answer is revealing. He states:

            

'I like Russia, but still Congo is my motherland. I want to go back there, graduate university and acquire a profession. I was first given a certificate of consideration for an application for temporary asylum in Russia, then they extended it for several times for 1-3 months. It is very difficult to be a refugee in Russia. I am very tired. Even the Russians themselves live here as refugees. Sometimes, when  someone from Russia tells me about his life, I wonder if he's Russian or African, like me? No, he is Russian, but he lives as a refugee. I'm scared of such stories'.