Russia forcibly deports Ukrainians – Human Rights Watch report
The Russian armed forces and the defenders of the self-proclaimed republics of eastern Ukraine under their control are accompanied by the deportation of Ukrainians, including those fleeing the war, to the Russian Federation or to the occupied territories of Ukraine. About this statement in the message published on September 1 by the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (“Human Rights Watch”).
The report is titled:We had no choice: filtering and implementing forced displacement of Ukrainian persons in Russia“The fact of the displacement of Ukrainian persons has been documented, which is a serious violation of natural warfare and constitutes a crime against the person, and possibly a crime against humanity. Such a check is “filtering.”
“It is impossible not to leave Ukrainians no choice but to go [на восток] in Russia,” said Human Rights Watch spokesperson and report co-author Belkis Ville. “No one should be subjected to a brutal screening process in order to get into the safe zone.”
Filtering and aggressive deportation
Human Rights Watch researchers interviewed 54 people, some of whom went through filtering to Russia, others had family members or friends searched upon request, and some of the interviewed rights were withheld by Ukrainians trying to leave Russia. Most of the respondents fled from the Mariupol region, and a few people came from the Kharkov region. Dozens of people from the Mariupol region took part in the survey, who were able to get out of the war zone in Ukraine-controlled, while not passing through the filter.
As a result of this survey, Human Rights Watch followed up with a letter to the Russian government summarizing the findings and issues. The letter remained unanswered.
Russian officials transporting people fleeing the Mariupol corps. They belong to some citizens of Ukraine that they have no choice but to remain in the occupied territories or move to Russia. People were told they should “forget” about moving to Ukrainian-controlled territory. “Of course, we would take the opportunity to go to Ukraine if we could, without a doubt,” said a woman deported from captured Mariupol. “But we had no choice, there was no way to go.”
Other citizens interviewed who were detained or employees of the self-proclaimed administrations at checkpoints instructed fleeing Ukrainians to go to Russia or to the “Donetsk People’s Republic”, saturated Eastern Ukraine, occupied by Russia. They heard the same thing from the military, who carried out raids against civilians in the occupied territories. People who have some money were able to independently move to the controlled regions of Ukraine.
“If you don’t go to Russia, you will be executed”
Residents of some villages of production in the Kharkov region (these borders with Russia) were also forcibly taken to Russia. One elderly man from the village said that a civil servant told him: “You lived here with us, and therefore, if the Ukrainian army comes here, they will find you.” They told me: “You will be executed!” Although he did not give up and did not leave for the east, hundreds of his inhabitants still left for Russia.
Some respondents noted that they went to Russia voluntarily, choosing this path as a transit route in order to develop in the course of the country’s development. The road through Russia, they think, will help to avoid restrictions on movement.
The total number of Ukrainians taken to Russia remains unknown. Many of them were exposed either aggressively or in conditions that would trigger a similar deportation, a misguided situation in the case of Human Rights Watch. In August 2008, almost 3.5 million Ukrainians entered the Russian Federation from Ukraine, including 555,000 children.
Departure to Russia. What’s next?
In many cases, those who had access to smartphones and connected contacted activists who helped them leave Russia for Estonia, Latvia or Georgia. However, at the same time, some were arrested at the border, as they confiscated their documents while fleeing Ukraine.
Laws prohibiting war in Ukraine force the civilian population, individually or en masse, to evacuate to Russia. Forcible transfer is a military confinement: to such a transfer in confinement, when a person agrees to leave only that he fears the consequences of refusal. Such creators of terrorist consequences are laws of natural origin, enforcement of detention or detention. As a result of the detection of the occupying force, the assumed conditions for the displacement of persons are used. The displacement of persons cannot be justified on humanitarian grounds if the humanitarian crisis that caused the deportation is the result of the violent actions of the occupying country.
While there may be legitimate grounds in Russia for checking the security of people voluntarily subject to entry into the Russian region, the filtering process – in its scope and systemic application for Ukrainians – is punitive and cruel, has no basis and the right to privacy arises, in particular Human Rights Watch.
People who “did not pass” the filtering process, apparently due to suspicions of links to Ukrainian military or nationalist methods, are detained in regions with limited capacity, including in the detention center in Yelenovka, where the tragedy took place on July 29 , and the explosion killed at least 50 Ukrainian carriers from Mariupol.
What Human Rights Watch Recommends
Human Rights Watch notes that Russian and Russian-affiliated occupying authorities should have civilian protection in Ukrainian-controlled territory. People boarding buses when deported from war zones should be fully informed about where the transport is going and have a choice if they do not want to go to Russia, human rights activists say.
According to Human Rights Watch’s Belkis Ville, it is imperative to stop “the deportation of people to the occupied territories of Russia and further to Russia without the east.” The Russian authorities and organization must do everything possible to help those who have been taken to Russia against their will and want to leave or return home so that they can do so in complete safety.