Migration Roundup (6–9 October)

1. The UN Human Rights Committee has applied urgent measures in the case of Yulia Yemelyanova, requiring Kazakhstan to refrain from extraditing her to Russia.
2. Germany continues to issue student visas to Russian citizens, but each application is considered individually. This was how the German embassy in Moscow commented on the case of the HSE student who was refused a study visa over a “security threat.”
3. Russians held in a US immigration detention centre have decided to go on hunger strike over poor conditions and abusive treatment by staff. They were placed in solitary confinement.
4. Latvia’s Foreign Ministry has begun the procedure for adding journalist Leonid Ragozin to its list of personae non gratae.
5. A court in Riga has sentenced a Latvian citizen to 6 years in prison for transferring €43 for the needs of the Russian army.
6. The Russian man returned by Lithuania has been given 6 years in a penal colony for anti-war posts. A EXILES’s lawyer has explained why Lithuania’s actions violate the European Convention on Human Rights.
7. Lithuania has deployed 100 troops to protect the border against Russians who might try to escape mobilisation. The Lithuanian interior minister later stated that a possible mobilisation in Russia is not sufficient grounds for asylum in Lithuania.
8. The EU Court has refused to unfreeze private assets, citing the claimants’ lack of “individual concern.”
9. Portugal’s largest state bank has begun closing Russians’ accounts.
10. Lithuania and Germany have extended temporary protection for Ukrainians until 2028. Men liable for military service are excluded.
11. The Czech government has adopted a regulation governing the stay in the country of Ukrainians of conscription age.
12. Finland will make it easier for startup founders to obtain residence permits, while tightening controls at the same time.
13. Montenegro’s Foreign Ministry has clarified how the new visa rules will apply to Russians and Belarusians already in the country.
14. The Latvian Saeima has backed at first reading amendments allowing the loss of Latvian citizenship to be postponed if the person has already taken the necessary steps to renounce their other citizenship.

EXILES (“Chuzhie”) is a Russian-speaking community of lawyers defending migrants in Europe. If you need help, write to us here or by email