DEFENDING
DEMOCRACY IN EXILE
Policy Responses to
Transnational Repression
CASE STUDY
Ukraine
U
kraine has long been home to a vibrant native civil society sector as well as many foreign
dissidents and exiled activists. Its visa-free entry system for citizens from 81 countries and its
record of democratic reforms have made it an attractive destination for people fleeing political
repression. However, a lack of governmental awareness about the use of transnational repression
by states other than Russia, cooperation between Ukrainian security services and those of foreign
states, and an inefficient asylum system have prevented many exiles from finding long-term security
in Ukraine. A mobilized civil society helps to protect some targeted individuals but cannot fully
substitute for strong government policies.
Best practices in Ukraine’s response to transnational repression:
•
Entering the country is relatively easy because of a visa-free regime for citizens of 81
countries, including many countries that are rated as Not Free in Freedom House’s Freedom in the
World report.
•
The government has demonstrated that it is capable of creating accountability for
transnational repression through the application of domestic criminal law.
•
The country’s highly networked and mobilized civil society sector includes many
organizations that help individuals targeted by transnational repression and provides an
environment in which members of vulnerable diasporas can organize themselves.
Arkady Babchenko,
a Russian journalist
living in exile in Kiev,
was the subject of an
assassination plot in
2018. Photo credit:
Sergey Nuzhnenko/EPA/EFE via Shutterstock.
Note:
The research for
this country report
was completed
before the Russian
regime’s invasion of
Ukraine in February
2022, meaning its
analysis reflects
prewar security and
migration policies.