DEFENDING DEMOCRACY IN EXILE Policy Responses to Transnational Repression biased, irrelevant, or out-of-date information, whether it is publicly available or supplied by other states, in order to justify formulaic negative decisions. One activist told the International Crisis Group in 2020 that when it came to Muslims from Russia in particular, “the Ukrainian state submits fully to Russia’s investigative bodies in every possible way.” 25 Securitization of migration The SBU is closely connected to the State Migration Service and can use discretion to assign staff to the Service, according to immigration lawyers and human rights activists interviewed for this report. Security checks form an integral part of the asylum review process. Consequently, individuals seeking asylum are among those put at risk by informal security cooperation between the SBU and the security services of other states. Individuals seeking asylum are among those put at risk by informal security cooperation between the SBU and the security services of other states. The SBU can recommend the denial of an asylum application based on its finding that the individual in question poses a “threat” to the national security of Ukraine. A detailed rationale is not required, and the source of information that forms the basis of the analysis is not made public. This nontransparent security assessment presents ample opportunities to deny individuals protection based on informal channels of information sharing with Russian authorities, or even based on Islamophobia. As a recent International Crisis Group report noted, “some activists also say authorities may be biased against Muslims and/or prone to dismiss fears of persecution in Russia.” 26 One case in point was the 2018 extrajudicial extradition of Timur Tumgoev from Ukraine to Russia based on an immigration technicality while his asylum application was still open. Tumgoev was eventually sentenced to 18 years in prison, and Ukraine’s prosecutor general admitted that the decision to return him to Russia was a “mistake.” 27 Tumgoev remains in prison. 6 @FreedomHouse Extrajudicial expulsions of individuals with legal status in Ukraine, or those in the process of acquiring it, without due process represent another troubling practice that facilitates transnational repression. While some individuals receive perfunctory legal hearings before being returned to their repressive homelands, others are simply kidnapped from the streets. For example, in 2018, Yusuf Inan was returned to Turkey based on an extradition request after an emergency hearing that took place on the same day he was arrested. Unbeknownst to him, he had already been stripped of his Ukrainian residency, making the extradition possible, and he was unable to appeal his expulsion.28 In 2016, when Russian national Aminat Babayeva was in the process of applying for asylum in Ukraine, she was kidnapped from outside a State Migration Service office in Kharkiv and driven across the Russian border.29 Rahmiddin Saparov was transferred to Uzbekistan on the morning of his release from a Ukrainian jail on October 19, 2020, without any formal extradition request or legal hearing, and in spite of the fact that he had already applied for asylum.30 Securing residence in Ukraine for politically persecuted individuals Since the regime in Belarus began cracking down on mass protests and dissent following the fraudulent presidential election of August 2020, thousands of Belarusians have moved to Ukraine, taking advantage of visa-free entry that allows them to stay for a newly extended period of up to four months.31 However, despite Ukrainian government statements condemning the regime of Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka,32 and in contrast to neighboring states like Poland that have offered humanitarian visas, Belarusians in Ukraine face many obstacles in securing permanent legal residency. To gain legal residency in Ukraine, Belarusians must fulfill a set of conditions that, in practice, are difficult to meet. These include finding local organizations that can vouch for them as volunteers, securing written permission from landlords authorizing their rental agreements, carrying local insurance, and abiding by tight deadlines for the submission of relevant legal documents to the State Migration Service. One activist described how Belarusians in the country felt trapped, since they could not travel on to third countries without visas, could not return to Belarus without facing repression, and could not obtain legal status in Ukraine itself due to the documentary requirements.33 #TransnationalRepression