The scandal over passengers being put off at the border gained momentum after Ukrainian woman Irina Belokolos, who found herself in such a situation, described everything in detail on Facebook. According to Irina, she was put off the train at the border of Ukraine and Russia in the Kharkiv region, accused of "partial forgery of a passport" – due to slightly blurred letters "l" and "s" in the document. At the same time, the victim notes that she had traveled to Russia many times before, but this small font defect in the passport had never raised questions from border guards.
“I was ... pushed out onto the platform, where it turned out that four more people from our car, and from the entire train – 12 people, also underwent such a procedure. For almost four hours all of us, and then a bunch of people taken off the Krivoy Rog, Simferopol, Dnepropetrovsk, Odessa and other trains, sat, stood, languished at that very point. Most people, without explanation, were given papers ‘for information,’ which stated that such and such person was banned from entering the city of Moscow until 2015, 2016, or an even later year. To the questions of the stunned people, the answer was the same – we don’t know anything, we just carry out orders, if you want details, contact the Russian Consulate. My refusal with a charming wording – ‘partial forgery of passport’...”, Irina described her “adventure.”
The eyewitness reported that, according to the border guards, such a situation has been going on for three weeks – allegedly every day 50-60 people traveling from Ukraine are put off at the Russian border.
Conductors of trains running from Ukraine to Russia confirmed to the newspaper 'Segodnya' that some Ukrainian passengers really do have problems crossing the border. From their experience, conductors say that being put off the train is usually explained by the fact that some data in the passenger's passport raises doubts among the border guards. At the same time, conductors recommend carefully monitoring not only the condition of the passport and the timely glued photograph, but also that the data in the passport and ticket match.
Border guards accept complaints
Assistant to the head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Serhiy Astakhov told us that in the last two weeks about 100 people have contacted the Border Guard Service of Ukraine with complaints about being put off at the border. 'We record this trend at the level of the hotline. Over the past two weeks, about 100 people have contacted us with complaints that Russian border guards have a biased attitude toward their documents. They complained to our embassy and consulate, but they were redirected back to us.'
'The fact is that from our point of view, Ukrainians cross the border legally, but every country has the right to protect entry. We also refuse entry to people who may become potential illegal migrants after an interview. But what the Russian side is guided by now is unclear to us. This is not a border service issue, it is a political issue, as it seems to me. But the problem exists, the Foreign Ministry must deal with it,' Astakhov said.
Head of the press service of the Administration of the State Border Guard Service Oleh Slobodian believes that Russian border guards have become more attentive to people crossing the border after the events in Moscow's Biryulyovo. 'We have recently noted an increase in the number of Ukrainian citizens who are returned by Russian law enforcement agencies for one reason or another. As a rule, there are three reasons: exceeding the period of stay on the territory of the Russian Federation, violating rules on the territory of the Russian Federation, or partial or complete forgery of documents. As for the timing – we noticed this trend after Russia announced that it is strengthening control over changes in migration legislation after the events in Biryulyovo,' Slobodian said.
At the same time, he noted that it is currently impossible to accurately determine the number of Ukrainians who were not allowed through the Ukrainian-Russian border, since the State Border Guard Service does not keep such records, and the victims themselves do not always contact them with complaints.
Problem reached international level
Soon after the coverage of the scandal with Ukrainians being put off trains at the border with Russia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reacted to the problem. As the Foreign Ministry reported, in 2013 the Russian Federation strengthened the responsibility of foreigners and stateless persons for violating the migration regime of the Russian Federation and the rules for the stay of foreigners in Russia.
Among the possible reasons for banning entry into Russia, the Foreign Ministry listed: exceeding the allowed period of stay by 30 or more days during a previous visit to Russia; repeated (two or more) administrative liability in Russia within three years; evasion of payment of tax or fine during a previous stay in Russia or failure to reimburse expenses related to administrative expulsion from the country, and so on.
At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated that it is working with the Russian side on measures to ensure the unimpeded realization of the legitimate rights and interests of Ukrainian citizens when crossing the Ukrainian-Russian border.
The Federal Migration Service of Russia refused to respond to our newspaper's request regarding the current situation, citing the need for accreditation with the Russian Foreign Ministry. At the same time, according to the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation, since the beginning of the year almost 10,000 Ukrainians have been banned from entering the country. But these bans are explained by violation of the terms of stay in the Russian Federation or failure to register stay during previous trips.
Go to court, or change passport
Head of the press service of the Administration of the State Border Guard Service Oleh Slobodian claims that in situations like being put off a train at the border, the interests of Ukrainian citizens are protected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 'As for the border guards, they perform duties within the limits defined by law, and cannot influence this situation,' Slobodian said.
In turn, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reports that the decision to impose a ban on entry into the Russian Federation can be appealed in court.
But the affected passenger Irina Belokos decided to replace her passport after the incident. 'I was last in Moscow in October, with the same passport that they now found fault with. The thing is that if you look closely, you can see that the passport officer corrected a letter. But our border guard told me that he wouldn't have seen it himself if they hadn't shown him, but the Russians found fault…. Now I've handed over my passport for exchange, just in case,' Belokos said. 'It's a pity that I lost about 1000 UAH – they never refunded my ticket money, and I had to get home to Kharkiv. But I'm more outraged by such treatment by the border guards,' she added.
Recall that in early October, Russian presidential advisor Sergei Glazyev stated that Russia could introduce a visa regime for Ukrainians if Ukraine signs the Association Agreement with the EU. Later, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke in favor of Ukrainians and Russians crossing the border using international passports rather than internal ones.
Olga KONSEVICH, Alexandra ZAKHAROVA,
Daria Ninko, the newspaper "Today".