Transcription
The policy of Donald Trump's new administration in the sphere of migration and the sharp intensification of ICE's work have long gone beyond the usual internal American agenda. Not only migrants from Latin America and US citizens themselves, who are trying to resist arbitrariness by migration structures, suffer from this policy. Its consequences directly affect the war in Ukraine and the fates of people from the North Caucasus, in particular from occupied Chechnya.
We are talking about Chechens and other residents of the region who fled to the USA after 2022, escaping from war, repressions, and persecution by Russian security forces. Many of them hoped for asylum, understanding that returning to Russia meant a direct threat to their lives. However, today these very people are increasingly falling under deportation procedures. Formally, deportation is processed as a return to the country of citizenship. On paper, this is a standard legal formula, but in practice, it is a direct handover of people into the hands of the very state from which they tried to escape.
A telling case occurred several months ago. A deportation flight, transiting through Egypt, arrived at Moscow's Domodedovo airport instead of a neutral third country. On board were people from the North Caucasus who had previously lived in the USA. Immediately after landing, they were handed over to FSB officers. The further scenario is well known and has been repeatedly voiced by us: kidnapping, secret prisons, torture, psychological and physical pressure, threats against relatives, and ultimately, forced signing of a contract for the SMO.
Thus, migration policy, presented as a security measure within the United States, is in reality turning into a mechanism for direct assistance to the Russian war machine. People who fled from war are forcibly returned to where they are tortured and sent to fight. In other words, Donald Trump's administration, with its deportation decisions, is helping Russia replenish losses and continue the war against Ukraine at the expense of the lives of those who once believed in the protection of the West. For American bureaucracy, these are closed cases. For the Russian side, it is a free and completely disenfranchised resource.
It is important to emphasize that this is not only an American problem. A similar practice has existed in Europe for many years, long before the war in Ukraine, and continues to this day. European Union countries have repeatedly deported people from the North Caucasus to Russia, despite court injunctions and the obvious risk of torture, imprisonment, or death. In France, cases of deportation of Chechens contrary to court decisions have been documented. After their return, some of them were subjected to torture, imprisoned, or killed. This practice continues now: in Croatia, the deportation of Magomed Amin Gatagazhev from Ingushetia is being prepared at the request of the FSB. Despite the mortal danger in case of his transfer to Russia, in protest against the deportation, dozens of people from the Caucasus held in the deportation prison in Ježevo have announced a hunger strike.
As we can see, in both the USA and the European Union countries, deportation mechanisms work the same way. People who fled from Russian repressions and war are returned to where kidnapping, torture, and war await them. That is why it is especially important to speak out about this now. We understand that many are afraid. They are afraid for themselves, for their relatives, for those who remained. But silence in this situation works only in one direction. It accelerates the process and expands its scale.
If you have information about Chechens or other people from the North Caucasus who have been deported from the USA or EU countries and subsequently ended up in the war in Ukraine, we need your help. If your loved ones have disappeared after deportation, if you know names, dates, routes, it is critically important. Relatives of those sent to slaughter must not be left alone. Publicity. The only thing that prevents this system from working silently. Write to us on WhatsApp, Instagram, or through the anonymous form. Silence does not save. Silence only makes this system even more impunity.