In Vienna, migrants demand to protect rights of Chechen refugees

A rally against the extradition of Chechen refugees took place in front of the Croatian Embassy in Vienna. About 500-700 refugees from Chechnya cross the Bosnian-Croatian border every week, and the flow has grown amid fears of continued mobilization, the human rights organization “Vayfond” reports.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that natives of Chechnya face problems in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in particular, when they try to get to Croatia. On December 29, it became known that at least 20 natives of Chechnya and Ingushetia, who came from Turkey to Bosnia and Herzegovina to seek political asylum in Croatia, had been deported to Istanbul.

Earlier, on November 7, it became known that the police detained in Croatia at least 15 natives of Chechnya, who had arrived from Russia, and violence was used against them.

The protest action in Vienna was organized by members of the Chechen Diaspora, the “Kavkaz.Realii”* reports. Roza Dunaeva, an organizer of the rally, the representative of Ichkeria in Austria, said that earlier, there had been cases of illegal treatment of refugees in the Balkan countries, but now they have become large-scale, which worries the Chechen Diaspora.

The Chechen human rights association “Vayfond” posted on its Telegram channel a report on the situation with refugees from Chechnya and Ingushetia in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.

Islam Aliev, a student from Kurchaloi, said that he got a summons in November “for verification,” after which he decided to leave the country. On December 26, the student arrived in Istanbul, from there he flew to Sarajevo, but he and another part of the Chechen natives were not allowed in and returned to Istanbul. According to Islam Aliev, he and his fellow travellers had to beg the Turkish border guards not to send them to Russia. On December 29, Islam Aliev went to Sarajevo and was detained there, but he was released on December 30 and on December 31 he managed to enter Croatia, the report says.

33-year-old Amir Evloev and his wife Marina Elmurzieva came from Ingushetia. Amir Evloev worked in the law enforcement bodies, and in December, there was an attempt to deliver him by force to a recruiting station. In December, the family flew to Turkey. They were not allowed into Bosnia and Herzegovina and had to wait at the airport for deportation to Istanbul. Some of those with whom they had arrived were deported from Istanbul to Russia, after which the family had no contacts with them anymore.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in the register of foreign agents.