Europe deports Chechens

Updated at 19:00:

According to updated data, 15 people should arrive from Vienna to Moscow, Elena Burtina, deputy head of the civil assistance public organization, told PublicPost: “At the airport, three of our volunteers are waiting for these people. We don’t know the details of those arriving, but several Chechens living in Austria should "were warning the deportees that human rights activists would meet them at Domodedovo. So far no one has approached the volunteers."

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A group of Chechens are being expelled from the country by the Austrian authorities. Russian human rights activists fear that they will face persecution in their homeland.

The flight with Chechens from Vienna will land this evening at Moscow's Domodedovo airport, Elena Burtina, deputy head of the civil assistance public organization, told PublicPost: “We learned that in Austria, a plane with one hundred seats was rented specifically for the deportation of Chechens to Russia. What awaits these people? - unknown. I think at least some of the deported Chechens may be kidnapped, perhaps they will become victims of torture and extrajudicial executions."

Burtina, according to her, together with volunteers will meet the deportees: “The flight with Chechens from Vienna will arrive at 17:00 Moscow time. We will advise these people. There are still fears that some of them will be detained by the special services right at the airport.”

PublicPost was unable to obtain an official comment from the Department of External Relations of the head and government of the Chechen Republic - the department’s leadership has been absent from work for several days due to intensive preparations for the celebration of February 23, the reception secretary said.

An employee of the Department, on condition of anonymity, told PublicPost that last year, delegations from several countries visited Chechnya in order to study the situation in the region: “Representatives from Norway and Sweden came to Chechnya. For example, at the beginning of last year, members of the Freedom Party Johann Gudenus and Johann Hübner: Chechen officials met with them and showed that life in the republic is getting better. On the issue of refugees, the leadership of the republic has only one opinion: these people create a negative image of Chechnya, because they lie about how it is unsafe for them to live here.”

Europe wants to get rid of problems with migrants using inhumane methods, the head of Civic Assistance, Svetlana Gannushkina, is sure: “Chechens are being evicted only because Austrian officials think that peace and tranquility reign in the republic. Perhaps they suspect that the Potemkin gloss of modern Chechnya is hidden still the same kidnappings and torture of people. But they prefer to think that everything is fine. With Ramzan Kadyrov coming to power in the republic, it is no longer possible to monitor human rights violations. For example, if a person who was kidnapped and tortured by security forces turns to human rights activists for help, then not only he can suffer, but also his relatives. Because of this, only a few people go to human rights activists.”

In Austria and other European countries they believe that the situation in Chechnya is relatively calm, and therefore it will be very difficult for refugees of recent years to obtain asylum, Gannushkina told PublicPost: “Last year, Norway expelled dozens of Chechen refugees from the country. We were not able to trace the fate of all Chechens But, for example, one of them died under very strange circumstances. Those who are being expelled are people who have not yet received refugee status, who fled from Chechnya quite recently. And it is very sad that Austria is expelling people, believing the words of Chechen officials."

According to Gannushkina, although there is an opinion that Chechen migrants do not adapt well to the European way of life, this is not entirely true: “There are many Chechens in Belgium, Norway, and France. If we take Austria in particular, then I would like to say that politics in their country is changing Regarding migrants, the words that Chechens and migrants from Russia in general do not get along well with local laws only indicate that these are just signals from the authorities. In Belgium, for example, there are practically no problems with migrants, since all issues are clearly regulated. ".

Gannushkina fears that, following Austria, Chechens will begin to be expelled from other European countries. In Austria itself, according to the newspaper Die Presse, about 25 thousand people from Chechnya live. The Austrian publication writes that for many years the majority of asylum seekers were Chechens, and if previously the number of granted applications reached 94%, then since 2011 this figure has fallen to 31%.