Dokument #1247477
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Autor)
1) An agreement to repatriate Polish
citizens held in Soviet custody was part of the communiqué
issued at the conclusion of the Moscow talks held between Polish
Premier Gomulka and the Soviet Government in November 1956. For
further details on this agreement, please see the attached excerpts
from Poland: The Captive Satellite and A History of
Modern Poland.
2) Questions of citizenship of this nature
are difficult to answer because of the numerous boundary changes
which took place in the aftermath of World War II. The excerpt from
Hans Roos' book A History Modern Poland detail these
changes. In essence, a person incarcerated in a Soviet prison
during these boundary changes might have had her or his citizenship
changed simply because of the redivision of Germany, Poland,
Lithuania, and the Western areas of the Soviet Union. Information
on the forfeiture, per se, of one's Polish citizenship is
unavailable to the IRBDC at the present time.
3) The Department of External Affairs
states that there is no maximum length of stay abroad, with the
allowed time depending upon the circumstances of the visit, i.e.
whether for business, family visit, tourism, etc. The Department of
State's Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1988
also mentions that since 1 January 1987, the Soviets have ceased to
specify the amount of time a citizen is permitted to remain abroad,
and the time permitted appears to be assessed on a case by case
basis. The information provided by External Affairs can not be
corroborated in published sources at the present time.
The Department of External Affairs states
that it is not a criminal offense to overstay one's exit
permission. As an administrative offense, a violation of the exit
regulations may entail problems with future applications for travel
documents. But the Department further notes that a Soviet citizen
who wishes to stay longer than originally permitted can go to the
Soviet mission in the country being visited and request an
extension. Similarly, those who have overstayed exit permission can
"regularize" their status at the Soviet mission. If, however, the
person concerned were in the country on official business, or if
the person were in the Soviet military or suspected of having
participated in espionage activities while abroad, the penalties
can be quite severe. The External Affairs spokesperson did not
elaborate on these penalties. The information provided by External
Affairs can not be corroborated in published sources at this
time.