"Promised Protection for Draft Evaders"... Young Russian Faces Sudden Deportation

Russian Youth Who Fled to Germany to Avoid Conscription
Appeals Court Rules "No Refugee Status," Orders Deportation
"Not Everyone Deployed to the Military Is Sent to War"

The court has issued a deportation order for a 22-year-old Russian youth who applied for refugee status in Germany, claiming he could be conscripted into the war in Ukraine.

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees in Germany made a deportation decision regarding a 22-year-old Russian youth who applied for refugee status due to military service. The court ruled that since fulfilling basic military duty in Russia does not significantly increase the risk of torture or inhumane treatment, this individual cannot be recognized as a refugee or granted humanitarian residence permission. Getty Images

According to Yonhap News Agency on May 29, the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court overturned the first-instance ruling and ruled against the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by a Russian man born in 2004, who sought humanitarian residence permission from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees in Germany.

This man argued that if he returned to Russia, he could be forced to participate in the Ukraine war against his will. He claimed it would be difficult to resist being pressured to serve as a contract soldier (professional soldier), rather than only completing the standard one-year mandatory military service. The court of first instance accepted his argument, ruling that the German government should protect him since he could be injured or killed in the war or be forced to commit violations of international law.

However, the second-instance court reached a different conclusion. The appellate court found it could not be certain that he would be deployed to the war as a contract soldier. Furthermore, it held that fulfilling basic military duty in Russia does not significantly increase the risk of torture or inhumane treatment, and therefore, this individual cannot be recognized as a refugee or be granted humanitarian residence permission.

Russian soldier. Photo by TASS Yonhap News Agency

In September 2022, the first year of the Ukraine war, then-German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated that Germany would actively protect Russian draft evaders, citing Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a violation of international law. However, of the 6,374 Russian men aged 18 to 45 who applied for asylum in Germany from the outbreak of war until April of last year, only 349 were granted refugee status or humanitarian residence permission. The German left-wing, which opposes conscription, continues to demand that Russian draft evaders be recognized as refugees.

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