The U.S. Tightened Requirements for Granting Asylum to Russian Draft Evaders

The U.S. Tightened Requirements for Granting Asylum to Russian Draft Evaders

The U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals issued a precedent-setting ruling in the case of a Russian man that makes it harder for Russian citizens who left the country because of mobilization to obtain asylum, the human rights project Russian America for Democracy in Russia writes.

The case concerned a man who left Russia in October 2022 and applied for asylum in the United States, arguing that forced service in the Russian army is in itself persecution. An immigration judge agreed and granted asylum, but the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) later challenged that decision.

The appeals board sided with the department and overturned the protection ruling, Mediazona writes.

The board ruled that the mere fact of conscription into the army, even when it concerns the armed forces of a country accused of war crimes, cannot be considered sufficient grounds for asylum.

As a result, the Russian man’s case was sent back for reconsideration on another basis, under the Convention Against Torture.

Applicants will now have to prove a personal risk: whether there is a threat of being forced to commit war crimes because of an anti-war stance, political activity, or other circumstances recognized by law.

Consequently, service in the Russian army itself will not be regarded in U.S. proceedings as a risk of being coerced into committing war crimes.

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