According to the ARK Project (Kovcheg), some 300 Russians and Belarusians may be prevented from receiving visas after suspending humanistic visa programs at the end of Berlin at the end of Berlin.
Established in March 2022, the arch supports harassment of Russian migration by Russian authorities, especially in opponents of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
In all thesis cases, the visa was already approved by the German Foreign Office – but the Interior Ministry has stopped the release of Dame.
Sent to an orphanage for anti-war drawing
One of the affected people is Alexi Moscowave, a Russian man who used to persecute in his motherland because one was done by his younger daughter in school. Drawing showed Russia firing rockets in Ukraine, in which a mother was standing in front of a child, holding her hand to ward.
Masha Moskeleva was 13 years old from the Russian region of Libra, when she drawn into an art class in the spring of 2022, not a long time after the introduction of Russia’s Ukraine’s full -scale invasion. The drawing was confiscated by the international media after taking interest by Russian authorities.
For the girl’s father, Alexi Moskalev, the school administration reported the drawing to the police, and Masha was interviewed by Russia’s domestic intelligence service, FSB members.
In 2023, Moscowave was sent for two years in jail. The court found him guilty of defaming the army in anti-war comments, which he said that he was built on a Russian social network, Odnoclasnike. State officials later sent their daughter Masha to an orphanage before handing over to their mother, which had separated from the family for many years.
Moskalev left Russia after his release from jail in October 2024, as he was in danger of being arrested again. “When I was in jail, in Vladimir Putin’s dungeon, FSB officials came to see me twice,” he says. “He always insisted, at the end of our conversation,” We are not going to leave you alone even after leaving you. “
Many formors Soviet countries are not safe
Of Anton. (Names for safety reasons) left Russia at the beginning of a full -scale invasion of Ukraine. Back home, former worker and journalist worked with “foreign agents” branded publications by officials. Today, he works for the online medium, whose editor-in-chief is in custody, accused of provoking terrorism.
Of Anton. So Kremlin participated in anti -protests, and was arrested several times in lumps. Russia’s “Center for Combbing Extremeism” took its fingerprints so that if necessary, it could find it more easily.
Like Alexi Moscowave, Anton. Hence CIS is currently in one of the states. The Commonwealth of independent states is an organization in the successor states of the Soviet Union, and besides Russia, it includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Advocate Anastasia is the founder of Burkova Kovcheg, who is the arch project that supports Russian dissidents abroad. He told DW that it was dangerous for the opponents of the government to stay in the thesis countries for a long time. Burkova says, “Always there is a risk of extradition request from Russia if a person wants in a politically motivated case,” says Burkova.
“There are kidnapping efforts, such as we have seen in Armenia, but are very successful kidnapping, such as in Kyrgyzstan; they ended in Russian jails.”
Humanitrian visa can save people from harassment
Of Anton. And Alexi Moskalev was many of these risks, he applied for a human visa for Germany, as well as some 300 with other Russians and Belaruses. German officials can release this visa to independent journalists, workers and politicians who are persecuted in their home countries.
For Arc, about 2,600 people from Russia have given the thesis visa to Germany in the last three and a half years of war. “More than 2.600 people have a chance to come to a safe place, a Russian prison sentence, torture, and to avoid harassment to protest against their civil society’s activism and war,” Anastasia Burkova insisted.
Despite approval, the visa was not released
At the end of July this year, Germany’s Interior Ministry announced that it was suspending the human visa program. The reason given was the coalition contract between Governing parties, CDU/CSU and SPD, which refers to the tough migration policy.
Of Anton. The visa was the highest in the bag. In early July, he was invited to present his passport at the German Embassy to get a visa. However, the process was broken at this point. Anton’s passport is still in the embassy.
Alexi Moskelev had a similar experience. He says that the German Foreign Office had already approved its visa, but due to the decision of the new government, it did not get it. It has been more than six months since the required documents have been submitted.
The internal ministry cites the ongoing review of processes
The German Ministry of the interior told DW that the coalition agreement of the governing parties included “as far as possible to end voluntary federal entry programs”, and said that it was currently investigating how it could be implemented in relation to various programs.
“We cannot determine the result of this review,” said this. “Until no decision is taken, the processes for the entry of the person in the orders to protect the politics of the federal republic of Germany under Section 22, are usually suspended under Para 2 of the Residences Act, which means that the principles, in principles, will not be declared a visa, except for new admissions in immediate cases.”
Anastasia Burkova hopes that the word means that it will actually make an exception. It will be clear what German officials actually believe as “essential cases”, she says.
In August this year, 1,043 people classified by Russian Human Rights Organization Memorial were classified as political prisoners in Russia. For the independent Russian news portal Bell, which works outside the country, around 700,000 people have left Russia Sion the beginning of their war against Ukraine.
This article was original in Russian.
