06.2007 - Source: US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants

Krasnodar Kray authorities granted Meskhetian Turks residence permits if they had Russian passports but denied them to those who did not; they were permitted only temporary registration ("World Refugee Survey 2007") [ID 20698]

"Krasnodar Kray authorities granted Meskhetian Turks residence permits if they had Russian passports but denied them to those who did not, effectively rendering them stateless. Authorities permitted them only temporary registration and required them to reregister every 45 days. About 23,000 applied to emigrate and, because nearly 11,000 Meskhetian Turks had left since 2004, police officers issued fewer arbitrary fines against them but continued to stop, check, and fine those not emigrating."

Document(s): Nepal - Sierra Leone
Full Report

08.03.2006 - Source: US Department of State

Krasnodar Kray authorities continued to deny the Meskhetian Turks there the right to register as permanent residents; Krasnodar authorities also attempted to use economic measures to drive out the Meskhetian Turks who were not registered in Krasnodar ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2005") [#46144],  [ID 11371]

"Krasnodar Kray authorities continued to deny the 10 thousand to 12 thousand Meskhetian Turks there the right to register as permanent residents, which deprived them of all rights of citizenship to which they were entitled under the law. They and some other small ethnic minorities living in Krasnodar were permitted only temporary registration and were subjected to special restrictions, such as being required to reregister every 45 days.

Krasnodar authorities also attempted to use economic measures to drive out the Meskhetian Turks who were not registered in Krasnodar. According to Memorial, they prohibited the Meskhetian Turks from leasing land, obtaining employment or engaging in commercial activity. The Meskhetian Turks have subsisted by leasing land through local residents with registration, doing so primarily in other districts of Krasnodar Kray but also other regions including Rostov, Volgograd, and Kalmykia. Because of the difficult conditions in Krasnodar, several thousand Meskhetian Turks applied for emigration to a third country, and Krasnodar officials cooperated in facilitating their departure. There have been reports, however, that police continued to arbitrarily fine those who were not emigrating. Human rights NGOs reported that the police stopped and checked persons who looked like Meskhetian Turks, immediately releasing those who declared their intention to emigrate and penalizing others."

Document(s): Open document

11.08.2004 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Krasnodar region: three small groups of Meskhetian/Ahiska Turks left southern Russia for the United States, as part of a US State Department-sponsored initiative, after being denied of Russian citizenship in 2003 ("Meskhetians Head for America") [#24693],  [ID 11373]

Document(s): Open document

28.07.2004 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Krasnodar region: Report on situation of Meskhetian minority, 1 group of 84 emigrated to USA in mid-July; only 4,000 out of 13,500 Meskhetians have been granted Russian citizenship and most of them are denied basic civil rights ("Russia: Meskhetians Setting Off Into New Exile But Vow To Continue Fighting") [#24331],  [ID 11374]

"Earlier this year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) launched a U.S.-sponsored resettlement program designed to help Meskhetians from Russia's Krasnodar region emigrate. The first group of 84 Meskhetians arrived in the United States in mid-July with the hope of obtaining permanent resident status and, eventually, U.S. citizenship. For these Meskhetians, this might well be the end of their journey. But the plight of those thousands who remain in the Krasnodar region is likely to continue until they, too, finally depart, after clearing last-minute hurdles set up by local authorities."

Document(s): Open document

23.07.2003 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Krasnodar Authorities Want To Close Down Advocacy Group For Meskhetians ("23.07.2003 - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Krasnodar Authorities Want To Close Down Advocacy Group For Meskhetians") [ID 11376]

"Krasnodar Krai authorities are reportedly seeking to close down a local human rights foundation based in Novorossiisk, polit.ru reported on 15 July. The organization, Shkola Mira, has defended the interests of immigrants and ethnic groups such as the Meskhetians. However, the group is reportedly not in compliance with a law that requires that all public organizations have three founders. It has only one. When the group queried Irina Kovaleva, a leading specialist at the department for public associations at the krai's Justice Ministry directorate, about introducing changes into their organizational charter, they were told that the Justice Ministry "is not interested in the continuation of the activities of the organization." According to the website, the directors of the foundation were told indirectly that if they bring pressure to bear on the international community to compel Georgia to agree to allow the Meskhetians to immigrate to that country, then they can count on the full support of the krai authorities. However, the foundation does not want to comply with this suggestion. JAC"

Document(s): 23.07.2003 - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Krasnodar Authorities Want To Close Down Advocacy Group For Meskhetians

05.04.2002 - Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

More than 13,000 Meskhetians facing possible deportation in Krasnodar Krai region ("Ethnic minorities could face deportation from Russia under new decree") [#6468],  [ID 11378]

"More than 13,000 people of Meskhetian ethnicity are facing possible deportation under a new local decree by authorities in the Krasnodar Krai region of the Russian Federation, the UN refugee agency has warned. The plan sets up "filtration points" to round up "illegal migrants" – mainly Meskhetians and Armenians, according to the authorities – and remove them from the territory of Krasnodar Krai. (…) Most Meskhetians have managed to integrate into the various parts of the Russian Federation where they settled after 1989, and have acquired Russian citizenship.The exception is the Krasnodar Krai region, where the overwhelming majority of Meskhetians have been unable to obtain permanent legal status. The region is home to between 11,000 and 16,000 Meshketians, out of a total population of some 5 million inhabitants. Many of the Meshketians have children who were born in Russia, but only a few thousand Meshketians have been able to settle legally in Krasnodar Krai. (…)The Meskhetians – a largely Muslim group from southwestern Georgia – were deported in 1944 to Uzbekistan on Stalin's orders. They faced forced displacement again when, in June 1989, almost the entire ethnic Meskhetian population was driven out of the Uzbekistani part of the Fergana Valley by inter-ethnic violence. Some 90,000 fled, half of them to Azerbaijan and tens of thousands to the Russian Federation. Without recognition of their citizenship, the Meskhetians live as stateless people. They can face harassment and discrimination, and may not be able to work legally, own land, or even access local health care and schools. The Krasnodar Krai decree now adds another worry – possible deportation from a region where they have resided for more than a decade."

Document(s): Open document

2002 - Source: Moscow Helsinki Group

Report on nationalism, xenophobia and intolerance (legislation, particularly vulnerable groups) ("Nationalism, Xenophobia and Intolerance in Contemporary Russia") [#15156],  [ID 11377]

Document(s): Open document

13.11.2001 - Source: Council of Europe - European Commission against Racism and Intolerance

Basic rights of Meskhetian Turks seriously affected ("Second report on the Russian Federation: Adopted on 16 March 2001 and made public on 13 November 2001 [CRI(2001) 41]") [#4815],  [ID 11379]

"The situation of the Meskhetian Turks in the Krasnodar Krai is a cause of deep concern to ECRI. As mentioned above20, Meskhetian Turks did not secure citizenship of the Russian Federation and lack of citizenship is used by the regional authorities as a reason to refuse granting registration of residence. As noted by ECRI in its first report, lacking registration of residence, virtually all other basic rights of Meskhetian Turks are seriously affected, including the right to have their marriages or children recognised, access to social security and public health services, to be employed on a permanent basis, to own property, or to obtain personal documents like passports or driving licences. Since mid- 1997 Meskhetian Turks are being required by the Krasnodar authorities to reregister as persons coming from a CIS country for a temporary stay only (45 days), despite having been at their present abode for several years – temporary residence allowing Meskhetian Turks certain social rights. In order to register, a person is required to pay a fee on each occasion. In addition, Meskhetian Turks are regularly checked and fined by police and even by the traffic police for the lack of registration. Checks of the registration status including searches of dwellings also take place regularly.

As mentioned in its first report, ECRI considers that urgent action is needed to end discriminatory treatment of Meskhetian Turks on the part of the authorities of the Krasnodar Krai as concerns registration of residence, and enjoyment of civil, political and socio-economic rights. Their right to citizenship should also be respected where it has been denied. At the same time, ECRI urges the Russian authorities to investigate any allegations against the conduct of law enforcement officials and paramilitary groups in respect of reported human rights violations and to take any appropriate proceedings. ECRI understands that, on the basis of the work carried out by the Interdepartmental Commission on Solving Problems of Meskhetian Turks living in the Territory of the Russian Federation, the government of the Russian Federation plans, inter alia, to consider extra financing of municipal bodies in regions where Meskhetian Turks who are not Russian nationals live compactly and to appoint within the structures of the Ministry of Federation Affairs of Russia and the administration of the Krasnodar Krai special commissioners in the regions of compact residence of Meskhetian Turks. ECRI strongly encourages the Russian authorities to monitor the implementation and effectiveness of these measures. ECRI hopes also that the Russian authorities will actively pursue international discussions with a view to regularising the position of the Meskhetian Turks in general.”
[…]
In its first report, ECRI also noted evidence that the decisions of the lower courts were sometimes biased by religious and racial prejudice. As will be mentioned below, some recent decisions rendered by Moscow courts regarding charges pressed against Chechens – which a considerable number of reports allege are based on fabricated evidence – are a cause of concern to ECRI. In several cases, the Krasnodar Krai10 courts were reportedly biased in their decisions concerning claims by the Meskhetian Turks that the local police had refused to register them by place of residence.
[…]
In some cases, discrimination is directly based on local legal provisions regulating the residence registration of persons of a certain ethnic origin. This is the case for Meskhetian Turks in the Krasnodar Krai. More often, however, discrimination results from the practice of systematically refusing to register members of specific ethnic minorities in certain regions, both for permanent residence and for temporary stay."

Document(s): Open document