Five repatriates from Middle East threatened with deportation

Law enforcement agencies have notified five citizens of Syria and Jordan, ethnic Adygs, of their deportation from Kabardino-Balkaria, the Caucasian Knot correspondent was told in the Kabardino-Balkarian Human Rights Center. The formal ground for the deportation is the expiration of their residential permit. Under the Law on the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation, an application for the prolongation of this document must be submitted six months prior to its expiration. The repatriates claim no one has familiarized them with this document. The court that the repatriates turned to did not take their case into account and denied their claims.

Commenting on the situation, Valery Khatazhukov, head of the Human Rights Center, said that President Putin's initiatives concerning the struggle against terrorism have such an effect, but, in his opinion, "this situation isn't the one when deportation is possible."

The Caucasian Knot correspondent has information that three of the people threatened with deportation married local women and have children. The Adyg repatriates assert they returned to their historic homeland for permanent residence. They planed to acquire Russian citizenship with time.