Nearly 19 Russian nationals have obtained asylum in France since the start of the year, the National Court of Asylum (CNDA) said on Friday, which in July recognized refugee status in principle for Russian soldiers. who refused to fight in Ukraine.
19 Russian nationals have obtained asylum in France since the start of the year, said Friday the National Court of Asylum (CNDA) which, in July, had recognized in principle the refugee status of Russian soldiers who refused to fight in Ukraine.
According to the Court’s decisions, “read between January 1 and mid-March 2024, 19 asylum requests” were granted, the CNDA told AFP on Friday. In July, the court adopted a doctrine consisting of granting refugee status to Russian nationals who had “demonstrated the existence of personal risks of persecution in the event of return to Russia, due to their failure to submit to partial mobilization within the framework of the war waged by the Russian armed forces against Ukraine.
Justify “its mobilizable nature”
This doctrine, the first in France concerning deserters from the Russian army, is based on a European directive of December 13, 2011 and a judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of February 26, 2015. The Court nevertheless rejected the request for asylum from a Russian who presented himself as a deserter, considering “that the declarations and documents produced did not make it possible to establish that the applicant had been mobilized in the context of the war” of Russia in Ukraine.
“To claim protection under refugee status, you must prove your mobilizability by specific elements such as documents or detailed and personalized declarations,” explained the vice-president of the CNDA Christine Massé-Degois.