Ukraine’s Security Service expels from Ukraine Russian woman, who asked for asylum

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) forcibly expelled from Ukraine a citizen of Russia, who was deported from Turkey, and who asked for asylum in Ukraine.

According to the SBU press service, the 26-year-old citizen of the Russian Federation arrived in Kharkiv airport from Istanbul on September 10. At the border control, she could not explain the purpose of her visit to Ukraine, except that she was deported from Turkey for her involvement in the IS activities.

According to SBU information, the Russian citizen consistently lost herself in her biographical data and could not tell what she was doing in Turkey.

“In order to ensure the interests of national security, the SBU on September 12 decided to forcibly expel Russian citizen from Ukraine. On the same day, she voluntarily left in the direction of Russia,” the press service informed.

At the same time, as Ukrainian human rights activists tell, a native of Dagestan Aminat Babayeva on September 9 (not on September 10 as claimed by SBU) arrived in Kharkiv airport and asked for asylum in Ukraine.

“She feared persecution at home, in the Russian Federation, and requested to consider her application for refugee status in Ukraine. After long negotiations with the border guards and interference of human rights activists and the Ombudsperson’s Office, she was still allowed to enter the territory of Ukraine just to, as it seems to be now, be stolen from the premises of the migration service, where she went the next day,” co-coordinator of the Without Borders project Maksym Butkevych said in a commentary to the Human Rights Information Centre.

“Now it seems that request of Babayeva for asylum had not been properly considered. Her rights, guaranteed by the Ukrainian legislation and international conventions signed and ratified by Ukraine, were violated. The message that she voluntarily left in the direction of Russia following the decision of forcible expulsion seems to be cynical mockery,” Butkevych noted.

He calls on Ukrainian and international human rights community to pay attention to the case of Babayeva, find out what happened to her, where she is now and who is responsible for commission of unlawful acts against her.