Police explain refusal to issue foreign passport to Chechen woman

A foreign passport was not issued for a young woman from Chechnya due to the requirement of the anti-terrorist commission not to issue foreign passports to persons under the age of 30 without the presence of their older relatives, the Chechen police informed a lawyer of the young woman.

The “SK SOS Crisis Group”* reported that an adult female resident of Chechnya was denied issuing a foreign passport in February without the presence of a family member. Human rights defenders point out that such practice grossly violates the law and human rights.

To obtain a foreign passport, persons under the age of 30 must come to the department accompanied by their parents or other older relatives, the Migration Department of the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) informs lawyer Alexander Nemov in a response to his official letter asking to explain the refusal to issue a foreign passport to his client.

The requirement for the presence of relatives when issuing a foreign passport is motivated by the need to make sure that the purpose of the trip does not contradict the interests of Russia.

From a legal point of view, the response of the Chechen MIA contradicts the law, Alexander Nemov states. The lawyer plans to appeal against the police response, although he doubts that the court will grant his motion.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.

**The “Team against Torture” (formerly the “Committee against Torture” – CaT) was created by the lawyers who had earlier worked for the CaT, which was included into the register of the NCOs performing the functions of foreign agents.