Closed borders. Why Crimeans cannot leave for Poland and the Baltic countries

Many politicians, public and religious figures called Crimeans to avoid the Russian mobilization. Many went to the European Union for protection, but not everyone managed to get there.

UA:SOUTH was informed about dozens of cases of Ukrainian citizens being denied entry to the EU due to the forced possession of Russian passports, and this is only what they managed to find out. After all, many are afraid to tell their story for fear of problems with Russian border guards during the second attempt to leave.

Two friends, Arsen and Remzi (names changed for security reasons) are Crimean Tatars, citizens of Ukraine and forced holders of passports of the aggressor country. Responding to the call of the Majlis to avoid mobilization, they left the peninsula at the end of September. They decided to drive through the entire western part of Russia to get to the border with Estonia.

They stood at the border for more than two days and were refused by the Estonian border guards. The reason turned out to be that they presented Russian passports when leaving Russia, and they were going to enter Estonia using Ukrainian ones.

“When we showed Ukrainian passes to Estonians, they saw that there was no exit stamp. That means we have 2 passports”, says Arsen.

Russian border guards would not allow Crimeans to leave with Ukrainian passports. They do it on purpose, seeing in their database that the person crossing the border is also a Russian citizen.

Arsen and Remzi claim that almost all the Crimeans they traveled with were not allowed through for the same reason. And they were all forced to return home.

Natalya Lyutikova, coordinator of the “Occupation Through the Eyes of Teenagers” project, told UA:SOUTH several more similar stories. For example, a 21-year-old Crimean, Anna, also tried to leave Russia for Estonia. The girl went to the European Union with a Ukrainian birth certificate. Anna could not get a Ukrainian passport. At first, the mother did not allow it, but then the covid pandemic began, and the administrative border between the occupied peninsula and mainland Ukraine was closed.

First, Anna was kept on the Russian side for a whole day. They took her phone away, took her for interrogation, and when they finally released her, the Estonian border guards refused to let the girl through because of her Russian citizenship.

Anna told her story in a letter to the Ukrainian Consul in Estonia and the Representation of the President of Ukraine in Crimea. She does not want to return home and has been in Russia for more than a week, waiting for the problem to be resolved. Representatives of the Ukrainian authorities promised to help her. 

Natalia Lyutikova claims that numerous similar cases have been recorded on the borders of Russia with Lithuania and Latvia.

A week ago, a family with three children left Crimea. It took three days to get to the border with Latvia. On top, they stood one more day at the border. Almost all family members had Ukrainian documents in their hands, except for the youngest child, who was born in the 5th year of the occupation. Latvian border guards denied entry - both parents had Russian passports in addition to Ukrainian ones.

Elina and Server (names changed for security reasons) tried to explain that returning home threatened the father of the family with mobilization into the occupying army. Elina told the border guards: “I am a citizen of Ukraine, I am asking for temporary protection from the European Union in connection with the war in my country. It is not our fault that we were forcibly given these red passports.”

But they answered her: “We understand everything, but for us, you are citizens of Russia. Sorry".

The family was forced to leave for Moscow to live with relatives. From there, Elina and Server with the children plan to fly to Turkey. According to them, half of the Crimeans, who they traveled in the same bus with, failed to cross the Latvian border.

Similar incidents on the Polish border are reported by Nedim Useinow, representative of the World Congress of Crimean Tatars in Poland.

On Facebook, the politician, on behalf of the World Congress, called for Ukrainian refugees from Crimea to be allowed into the European Union and recalled that people are primarily hiding from mobilization into the Russian army. (screen)

“They are not spies, not collaborators, and not traitors!”

"CRIMEAN TATARS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO POLAND. Yesterday, the Mejlis reported, and many Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar journalists picked up and spread the news, that the border guards in Poland and the Baltic countries began to massively refuse Crimean Tatars entry into the EU. The reason may be the difficulty of verifying the views of these people, as well as in many cases the lack of up-to-date Ukrainian documents. Ladies and gentlemen, it is erroneous and unfair to apply the above criteria to the Crimean Tatars, for whom conscription into the Russian army is unacceptable and excluded. For several days, thousands of Tatars have been wandering around Russia, trying to leave the country. There is a real armageddon at the border of Georgia: long lines and Russian army recruiting stations set up at the border. In Kazakhstan, the situation is similar, but people are still let through, except that the waiting time in lines is unacceptable for families with small children. So some go through Belarus to the borders with the Baltic countries and Poland, risking being detained along the way and handed over to the Russian Ministry of Defense. This is the drama of a huge number of men, women, and children in this small community. Keeping them out of Poland despite being Ukrainian citizens fleeing the war is a violation of statements made by high-ranking officials during visits to Kyiv, from the Sejm stands, and in statements to the media. This is a violation of the solidarity policy of the Polish government with struggling Ukraine. The Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars and the World Congress of the Crimean Tatars demand that refugees from Crimea, who are citizens of Ukraine, be allowed into the European Union! They are not spies, not collaborators, and not traitors. These are people who are loyal to Ukraine and believe in a democratic Europe, who want the safety of their families and refuse to participate in the war on the side of Russia."

Refat Chubarov, head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, wrote on his Facebook page about the urgent need for a joint solution to the problem at the level of the governments of Ukraine and the states which Crimean citizens of Ukraine enter. In particular, he proposes to create an Interdepartmental Working Group under the auspices of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs.

Later, during a meeting with the Charge d'Affaires of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, Remy Duflo, the head of the Mejlis spoke about more than 2,000 Crimeans in Kazakhstan who are afraid to travel to European countries due to the difficult situation with documents.

Reference: In a commentary on an article by The Wall Street Journal, Crimea SOS analyst Yevgeny Yaroshenko claims that in one of the settlements of Crimea, 27 out of 28 summons to the occupation military registration and enlistment office were received by Crimean Tatars.

Human rights activists claim that in just a week about 20,000 indigenous Crimeans received the summons. Many politicians, and public and religious figures called Crimeans to avoid Russian mobilization.

In particular, Tamila Tasheva, representative of the President of Ukraine in Crimea, asked “to use all legal and “illegal” methods in order not to be mobilized”. And she called the mobilization “targeted genocide against one community”. In addition, recommendations on how to avoid mobilization have been published on the official website of the department.

The Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, in its urgent appeal, announced that 80-90% of the Crimean Tatars are on the list for mobilization in certain regions. And he called to oppose illegal conscription, categorically refusing to join the ranks of the occupying army.

Suleiman Khairullaev, Deputy of the Mufti of Crimea, during Friday prayers, called on parishioners to avoid Russian mobilization by any means, and for those who fail, he said: “You know which way to shoot!”.

Volunteers of the Internet group “Coordination Crimea” report a worsening situation on the borders of Russia with the European Union for refugees from the occupied peninsula. Ukrainian volunteers in Poland agree with them, adding that Lithuanian and Polish border guards, with identical cases, apply their own selection criteria to each person, and this complicates the understanding of the true reasons for the refusal.

The fact that the distribution of Russian passports on the peninsula was actually forced, was repeatedly written by human rights activists. In particular, the human rights organization “Crimea SOS” reported about refusals of employers in employment (Crimeans with Ukrainian passports were called “foreign employees” and were not hired), massive refusals to register their place of residence, problems with obtaining banking services, medical care, car registration, etc.

In 2014, 300,000 Crimeans refused or ignored Russian passports.

In 2016, the occupation courts of Crimea awarded fines ranging from 35,000 to 250,000 rubles to companies that hire Crimeans with Ukrainian passports only.

In 2018, cases of deportation of Crimeans without a Russian passport were recorded.

The apogee of compulsory passportization was the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation on March 20, 2020, which actually deprived the citizens of Ukraine of the right to own land plots on the annexed peninsula.