DEFENDING DEMOCRACY IN EXILE Policy Responses to Transnational Repression to co-opt the latter and, conversely, for host governments to build resilience and provide protection. Understanding of transnational repression is particularly important for government agencies that are responsible for refugee resettlement, those processing asylum claims, and those reviewing requests for extradition and other forms of legal cooperation with foreign states. While individuals are awaiting permanent legal status, they remain within easy reach of authoritarian governments. For example, two Russian men—Alexey Kharis and Gregory Duralev—spent months in US detention in 2017 and 2018 after their asylum claims were derailed as a result of Interpol notices issued by Moscow. Both men had spoken out against corruption at home and had been accused of financial crimes in retaliation. According to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, the Interpol notices constituted a violation of the men’s immigration statuses in the United States and warranted detention, even though the Russian government is a well-known abuser of Interpol notices. In 2021, authorities in Thailand deported several activists to Cambodia despite the fact that they had been recognized as refugees by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and were facing politically motivated criminal charges at home.64 An activist Cambodian monk who also had refugee status avoided deportation from Thailand only after international civil society groups intervened on his behalf.65 In Sweden, Germany, and Canada, migration agencies have access to accurate and up-to-date information on countries of origin when assessing applications for asylum. The availability of this information increases awareness among migration officials about different forms of repression used by origin states. It also helps to build resistance to extradition or repatriation requests made by authoritarian governments. These systems could be further strengthened by thorough vetting procedures for any interpreters employed at the Foreign policy is the primary vehicle for raising the cost of transnational repression for perpetrators. 16 @FreedomHouse agencies to ensure that they are not acting as agents of a foreign state. Migration agency staff should also be trained on authoritarian states’ motives and tactics for engaging in transnational repression. FOREIGN POLICY Foreign policy is the primary vehicle for raising the cost of transnational repression for perpetrators. Domestic criminal law can be used to punish the agents who carry out acts of transnational repression, but it is unlikely to hold the leadership of the origin state accountable for abuses. Foreign policy decisions can help fill this gap by imposing other forms of penalties, which are most effective when multiple governments coordinate their efforts. A key tool for responding to transnational repression is the use of targeted sanctions. The United States’ Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and Executive Order 13818 empower the US government to apply targeted sanctions, such visa bans and asset freezes, against individuals engaged in human rights abuses. The EU, Canada, and the United Kingdom have adopted laws allowing similar sanctions.66 In practice, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and—through their compliance with EU decisions— Germany and Sweden have imposed targeted sanctions in response to acts of transnational repression including the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi authorities, the arrest of Raman Pratasevich by the Belarusian regime, and the 2018 poisoning of Sergei Skripal by Russian agents in Britain. A US visa-restriction policy known as the Khashoggi Ban is aimed at individuals who work to suppress extraterritorial dissident activity on behalf of a foreign government, drawing an explicit connection between transnational repression and accountability for perpetrators. The policy was applied to a number of Belarusian officials in 2022.67 Democratic governments have also expelled origin states’ diplomats in response to transnational repression. Authorities in Canada, Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States, along with numerous other countries, expelled Russian diplomats following the Skripal poisoning. German officials have also expelled diplomats in response to acts of transnational repression within Germany perpetrated by the governments of Russia, Vietnam, and #TransnationalRepression