Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has altered the lives of millions of people in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia and changed the security map of Europe. The war is causing thousands of deaths and damage to houses and infrastructure. Inside Russia, persecution of anti-war activists and critical voices has increased. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to leave their homes. Human rights defenders, representatives of civil society organisations, journalists, lawyers, anti-war activists and critical-minded people are targeted, with sentences of up to 15 years imprisonment. Civil society has been forced to make difficult choices – to stay and risk organisational liquidation and personal harassment and imprisonment of their staff or to leave and work from exile.
Western countries introduced various sanctions against the Russian state, individuals, and businesses, as well as strict border control and visa restrictions. The EU introduced regulations that resulted in restrictive visa and asylum policies for Russian and Belarusian citizens. Norway has primarily followed the EU. But Norway has not follow countries like Lithuania, Germany, and the Czech Republic, that have programs for issueing Schengen visas for human rights defenders.
The Ministry of Justice in Norway should also clarify Norwegian asylum policies regarding citizens from Russia and Belarus, including draft evaders, enabling the Directorate of Immigration (UDI) to start processing applications from such asylum seeker that have a right to protection.