Latvia actually refused to grant asylum to a Russian citizen born in Latvia who claimed that the Russian authorities wanted to involve him in hostilities in Ukraine, according to the publicly available court verdict.
Latvia actually refused to grant asylum to a Russian citizen born in Latvia who claimed that the Russian authorities wanted to involve him in hostilities in Ukraine, according to the publicly available court verdict.
Last May, the 47-year-old Russian citizen applied to the State Border Guard for refugee or alternative status in Latvia. The Citizenship and Migration Board (PMLP) refused asylum and the man went to court, which rejected the application.
In February of this year, the applicant again appealed to the authorities with an application for the granting of refugee or alternative status. The man stated that it is impossible for him to return to the aggressor’s country, Russia, where, if he refuses to submit to mobilization, he will be sentenced to prison; moreover, there is nowhere to go back to, as there are no relatives in Russia, and no contact with his ex-wife and children.
PMLP’s repeated application for granting refugee or alternative status was left without consideration.
The man went to court again in April. He argued in the application that he was born in Latvia, but his parents, who need his support, live in Latvia. The decision to renounce the non-citizen status of Latvia and accept Russian citizenship was made due to family and work at the time.
The man is divorced, he has three children who live with their mother in Russia. After the divorce, he decided to return to live in Latvia. Also, the man has no property in Russia, nor any other ties to this country, therefore he has nowhere to return to in Russia, which means that the man would be left in a helpless state without the possibility to provide basic needs, which is considered a life-threatening situation.
Deporting the man would also violate his right to private and family life, as he lives with his parents and supports them financially, the man said.
He has also claimed that his political beliefs do not coincide with Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. Nor is the current situation acceptable to him. Returning to Russia would threaten the man’s freedom and violate human rights. Refusing to mobilize and engage in hostilities in Ukraine, the man will be arrested and punished for his political stance.
The court rejected the application for imposing an obligation on PMLP to evaluate the repeated application for granting refugee or alternative status in Latvia.
One of the court’s arguments was that, according to the conclusions of the PMLP, there is currently no widespread violence or internal armed conflict in Russia, which could pose a serious and individual threat to the life and health of civilians.
The court agreed with the administration’s conclusion that there is no reason to believe that there is a serious and individual threat to the life or health of the applicant in Russia due to internal or international armed conflicts within the meaning of the Asylum Law.
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