Two out of five Russians who fled to South Korea due to mobilization will be allowed into the country by court decision

The Incheon District Court allowed two Russians who left the country after the start of mobilization to claim refugee status in South Korea. This was reported by The Korea Time s.

In the near future, Russians will be able to leave Seoul airport, where they have been staying since the fall of 2022, and they will be issued visas while their refugee applications are being processed. One of them told reporters that even before the war in Ukraine, he protested against the Putin regime and was very afraid that because of this he would be mobilized.

In January 2023, it became known that five Russian citizens who arrived in South Korea in October-November live in the departure area of ​​Incheon International Airport. Due to mobilization, they came to the country and asked for political asylum, but the migration service refused to grant them refugee status, emphasizing that evading conscription in the army at home is not a valid reason for granting such status.

to help the Russians South Korean human rights activists decided - they provided lawyers and challenged the decision of the migration service in court. “Those who apply for refugee status to escape political and religious persecution at the hands of their countries are entitled to protection under international law,” the human rights activists said in a statement.

The court managed to consider three applications out of five - in two cases the authorities agreed to accept applications for refugee status, in another case they refused. Now two more Russians - college student Vladimir Maraktaev and former football player Dzhashar Khubiev - are awaiting consideration of their applications.