‘Ethically ambiguous’

New law makes it harder for draft-age Ukrainian men to get passports

Ukrainian authorities passed a law banning passport renewals and limiting other consular services for draft-age Ukrainian men living outside of the country. The law comes just weeks ahead of new regulations set to tighten mobilization procedures in the country with the aim of drafting as many as 500,000 more people into Ukraine’s Armed Forces. The restrictions on new passports will potentially make it easier for Ukraine to return draft-aged men living abroad, some of whom left in order to avoid fighting. News of the ban resulted in long lines at passport centers in European cities last week.

On April 23, the Ukrainian authorities banned issuing passports to Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 who are subject to conscription into Ukraine’s Armed Forces and who are currently living outside of Ukraine. Citizens within Ukraine can still apply for passports from Federal Migration Services, and the ban has a number of exceptions, including Ukrainian citizens who retained the right to travel outside of the country after martial law was declared following Russia’s full-scale invasion.

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Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry says that most consular services will be unavailable to Ukrainian men of military age residing outside of the country. Ukraine’s embassies and consulates overseas will, however, continue to issue ID cards allowing Ukrainian nationals eligible for military service to travel back to Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has confirmed that he personally ordered the ban on consular services for draft-eligible citizens living overseas. He noted that living overseas “does not exempt a citizen from his duty to his homeland.” He called the ban “a way to restore the fair treatment of men of draft age inside Ukraine and overseas.” He added, “If these people think that some men, far away at the front, fight and give their lives for this government, while others sit it out overseas but receive services from that same government — that’s not how this works.”

The Foreign Minister says that the new passport restrictions have been adopted in concert with the recent tightening of the country’s law on mobilization, which will take effect on May 18. The Ministry did promise to honor applications for documents submitted before April 23.

Ukrainians living abroad reported problems with the state passport service even before the adoption of the new law on mobilization. At passport centers in Warsaw and Prague, long lines of people hoping to receive passports for international travel formed before the law was adopted.

A few days before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the new law on mobilization, Ukraine’s passport service announced that it would no longer operate on a first-come-first-served basis, and introduced a system of appointments and a digital queue. Reports emerged on social media of fights breaking out at some of Ukraine’s overseas passport centers. On April 23, the state passport service stopped issuing any documents, including those that were already prepared, at its overseas offices, with the exception of passports for children under 12.

On April 24, around 300 Ukrainian nationals brought work to a halt at a Warsaw passport office after they were unable to get passports. According to Polish and Ukrainian media reports, many of the protesters had received notifications that their documents were ready but were unable to collect them for various reasons. Some people had waited in line at the passport center in the Polish capital all night, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“This is a fight against people who are fleeing the army,” said 38-year-old Maksim, a truck driver, who was waiting in line to receive a new passport. “They didn’t ask us why we went abroad. Why am I a draft dodger if I went abroad legally?”

35-year-old businessman Pavel Lyashenko, who moved to Poland long before the start of Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine, said that the government was putting him in an impossible position. Like others, he had come for a passport that was ready to be picked up only to find that he couldn’t collect it. “The doors are blocked. They’re afraid that if I go in, then I won’t leave until I get my passport. I know it’s in there,” he said. AFP reports that Lyashenko fears he’ll end up in a legal “gray zone,” living abroad but without a valid passport.

Another Ukrainian citizen, 27-year-old truck driver Bogan, said he’d been waiting at the Warsaw passport office for two days. “I came 700 kilometers [over 400 miles] to get my passport after I got a text message saying I could pick it up,” he explained. “No one is giving me the passport. What are our next steps? What do we have to do to get them to just give us the documents that we’ve paid for?”

Lawyers and human rights activists interviewed by Deutsche Welle predicted legal trouble for Ukrainian authorities following the adoption of strict laws on mobilization that impose punitive measures against all Ukrainian men living abroad. Human rights activist Oleksandr Pavlichenko believes that Ukrainians who don’t want to fight will now try to obtain citizenship or refugee status in other countries.

Experts on the labor market in Poland suggest that bans on passports for Ukrainians could have negative knock-on effects on Poland’s economy. Many Ukrainian nationals hit by the new passport bans work for Polish companies, and now risk becoming de facto illegal migrants. After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, around 4.3 million Ukrainians, including 860,000 draft-aged men, left the country for various parts of the E.U. Poland was the second most popular destination, after Germany, for fleeing Ukrainians, taking in about 950,000 people on a temporary basis.

The Polish authorities first said that they’re willing to help Ukraine bring home men of draft age who left the country after the full-scale invasion. “I think that many Poles are outraged when they see young Ukrainians in hotels and cafes and then hear about how much we’re doing to help Ukraine,” said Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. More recently, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said returning draft-eligible men to Ukraine is “ethically ambiguous,” adding that Poland would not “take the initiative” on such measures.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas echoed the sentiment. He says Lithuania has no concrete plans and is paying attention to Poland’s decision. “Of course, no one will round them up and send them back to Ukraine — that’s not happening,” said Kasčiūnas, noting that Lithuania could, instead, restrict Ukrainians’ access to social services, work permits, and other legal documents.

The situation is a little easier for Ukrainian refugees in Germany. Deutsche Welle reports that Ukrainian refugees will be able to stay in Germany, and even obtain or extend a temporary residence permit, with an expired passport.