Syrian refugees are being deported from Russia - rights activists
MOSCOW. Nov 25 (Interfax) - Rights activists have asked the Russian authorities not to deport Syrian citizens and not to deny them political asylum.
"We are calling on the Russian authorities to give Syrian refugees access to the territory of the Russian federation and ensure effective provision of asylum," the human rights center Memorial said in a statement obtained by Interfax on Monday.
"Otherwise we will have to admit that the authorities are not fulfilling the obligations they assumed under the convention and are subjecting people from Syria who are seeking asylum to cruel treatment," the human rights activists said.
Refugees from Syria were deported from several Russian regions, specifically, from St. Petersburg and the Krasnodar Territory, in November.
"Fourteen refugees from Syria who had been kept in a center for foreign citizens in St. Petersburg since July 2013 have been returned to Damascus," the statement, signed by Memorial council member Svetlana Gannushkina, said.
On September 28, federal Migration Service Director Konstantin Romodanovsky denied the information provided by human rights activists on that several thousands of refugees from Syria were in Russia.
"There are not thousands of refugees from Syria in Russia. One hundred and fourteen people from Syria turned to the Federal Migration Service and were granted temporary asylum in Russia this year," he said.
Most of these people are married to Russians and returned to Russia when the war began in Syria, Romodanovsky said.
