2023-08-04 06:00:00
A petition is circulating on social networks, carried by another LGBTQIA + rights organization, named “All out”. It calls on the European Union and its Member States To “stop closing doors on russian transgender people“.
The idea of leaving the country lives many transgender Russians today, confirms “Transgender Europe”. Especially, says Vanya Solovey, as some fear being recruited: “trans people try, like others, to leave the country to escape mobilization into the army, few people want to become war criminals… But being in the army is also more dangerous for trans people than for many others”.
But what are their possibilities of leaving Russia? Is the European Union closing its doors to them, as the title of the petition implies?
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Union has abolished the facilities available to Russian nationals for the granting of a visa: they must now submit a dossier to enter Belgium, for example. And some EU states have partially or completely stopped granting visas to Russian nationals. This is a first brake, which varies from one Member State to another.
A brake that is not insurmountable: the number of Russians who fled their country increased in 2022 and 2023. Part of the increase in 2022 may be linked to the reopening of borders following the pandemic, but the increase seems strengthen in 2023. According to Eurostat, 3,000 Russians arrived in the Union in the month of January 2023 alone, while there were 18,000 for the whole of 2022.
Transgender Russians who overcome this first visa hurdle might consider applying for asylum upon arrival in the EU, fundamental right to seek protection. At this stage once more, there are differences between countries. Some European states include gender-related persecution in their asylum criteria, others do not. This card of the European platform for the defense of LGBT rights “ILGA Europe” makes it possible to visualize where the request of these people can theoretically be taken into account. Belgium is one of these states.
But taking this criterion into account does not necessarily mean granting protection status: the decision will be taken on a case-by-case basis, according to the evidence presented by the asylum seeker.
If, for transgender people, staying in Russia is a difficult prospect, so is leaving the country.
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