exclusive
After the start of the war of aggression against Ukraine, Germany suspended repatriations to Russia. Now the first federal state has deported again.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, deportations to the Russian Federation were initially ruled out. “For purely practical reasons, deportation to Russia is currently not possible,” said a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior just a few months ago. There are still no direct flight connections between Russia and the European Union. Contacts between the security authorities have also been kept to a minimum.
First deportations from Bavaria
And yet: Recently, Russian citizens were deported back to their homeland from Germany for the first time. The Bavarian State Office for Asylum and Repatriations confirmed a corresponding research by WDR and NDR.
The Free State was the first German federal state to carry out repatriations to Russia. According to information from WDR and NDR initially brought to Serbia by scheduled flight in March. From there we took another flight to Russia.
conditions must be met
The repatriation was a so-called unaccompanied deportation – the two men were therefore not accompanied by federal police officers. According to the state office, a “security escort” was not necessary because “no resistance to the repatriations was to be expected”.
The spokeswoman went on to explain: “For a successful repatriation to Russia, a large number of different requirements must be met at the moment. These were the case for both people.”
Deportations were announced
The first deportations are not surprising: WDR and NDR had already reported in February that some federal states were again considering deportations to Russia, including Bavaria, Saxony-Anhalt and Hesse. It was said that these were mainly isolated cases, including primarily criminals and terrorist threats, i.e. people who the German authorities believed capable of attacks at any time.
The federal government is currently under pressure: In view of the increasing irregular migration to the Federal Republic, the calls for a more consistent repatriation practice are increasing. In the coalition agreement, the SPD, Greens and FDP had announced a “repatriation offensive” – especially of criminals and people who are dangerous.
Implementation often not possible
However, realizing this promise is proving difficult. More than half of the most recently dangerous persons or relevant persons who were recently obliged to leave the country, such as supporters or helpers of terrorist groups, are Syrians, Afghans or Russian nationals. However, deportations to these three countries are currently hardly possible for various reasons.
Possible recruitment by Russia
One aspect that has probably caused German authorities to hesitate in resuming returns to Russia: In Russia, criminals have been recruited from prison for the war against Ukraine for the past year – apparently both by the Wagner mercenary group and by also by the Russian military.
According to a BBC research, such recruitments are said to have taken place in prisons in 25 regions of Russia. In addition to war pay, convicted criminals are said to have been promised impunity after a combat mission in Ukraine.
The In early May, the United Nations condemned the massive recruitment of Russian prisoners and subsequent human rights violations. In many cases, for example, recruits from prisons were threatened and mistreated – in turn, people who wanted to escape were apparently executed.
Deported criminals at the front?
German authorities are also concerned that deported criminals could be drafted for military service and sent to the front after their return to Russia. When asked about this, the Bavarian state office explained: “The question of a possible draft for military service represents a circumstance related to the target state, which would ultimately have to be evaluated by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).”
The editorial network Germany recently reported, with reference to BAMF figures, that only a few Russian conscientious objectors have received asylum in this country. From February 2022 to April of this year, 2,485 male Russian citizens of military age between 18 and 45 applied for asylum in Germany.
In more than 800 cases, decisions have already been made on the applications, asylum has only been granted in 55 cases, and this has been rejected in 88 cases. In the remaining 671 cases there was a “formal settlement of the proceedings”. For example, the ministry refers to the “withdrawal of the asylum application” or “decisions in the Dublin procedure”, according to which, for example, EU countries other than Germany are responsible for carrying out the asylum procedure.