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Are any countries accepting refuges from Russia that seek asylum? I know some Russians that are wholly against their Government's actions. I hope some provision

Are any countries accepting refuges from Russia that seek asylum? I know some Russians that are wholly against their Government's actions. I hope some provisions are being made to allow those who wish escape to do so...

ChuckNorris89 5y ago
>Are any countries accepting refuges from Russia that seek asylum? This is an important topic. Some EU countries like Czechia are even blocking visas for Russian citizens now and I think this will be a trend in other EU countries. AFAIK, since Russia is the aggressor here and is (on paper) a democratic country (but not really), then its citizens are not considered yet victims of the war, and are most likely not falling under the rules of refugee status, unless they can clearly prove that the Russian government is a threat to their life, which would be a bit difficult (like if you're in political opposition to Putin). I honestly don't envy the Russian people now. They're forced into a conflict they don't want to be in, and are suffering the consequences.
- deleted 5y ago
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- koonsolo 5y ago
  > They're forced into a conflict they don't want to be in, and are suffering the consequences. Ukrainians are also forced into a conflict they don't want. Unfortunately, it's up to both the Ukrainians and Russians to do something about it, not Ukrainians alone. The Ukrainians clearly made their decision. Now it's up to the Russian people to make theirs.
  - throwaway3968 5y ago
    > Now it's up to the Russian people to make theirs. There's nothing we can realistically do. It's up to the military to start a civil war.
    - koonsolo 5y ago
      The Euromaidan also started with normal civilians. It seems they just didn't accept no for an answer. Later they indeed threatened to involve the reserve army since they were on their side. But the army was not required. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_of_Dignity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_of_Dignity
    - CRConrad 5y ago
      >> Now it's up to the Russian people to make theirs. > There's nothing we can realistically do. Then you get to collectively carry the responsibility for that "inability"; for, by not rising up as one against the dictatorship, passively allowing it to continue. That's what was seen as appropriate for the nation you fought in your Great Patriotic War, so why shouldn't it be appropriate for yours?
    - rurp 5y ago
      Many awful dictators have been toppled by civilian revolts. Waiting for the military to get involved is not at all required. When enough citizens revolt there will be a point where police forces realize that they are on the wrong side, either for moral or self preservation reasons. Once they start refusing to defend the dictator, that dictator's power is done.
  - bigboiseal 5y ago
    > The Ukrainians clearly made their decision. Now it's up to the Russian people to make theirs. Russia is a non-democratic country...
    - koonsolo 5y ago
      Ukraine was also a non-democratic country, until the people decided otherwise. And yes, it was pretty brutal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_of_Dignity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_of_Dignity
      - leereeves 5y ago
        > Ukraine was also a non-democratic country, until the people decided otherwise That's not true. The President of Ukraine who was overthrown in 2014 (Yanukovych) was democratically elected in 2010 in an election that international observers called fair, truly competitive, and an impressive display of democracy.[1] That President was supported mostly by the people of eastern Ukraine and opposed by the people of western Ukraine. 1: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/feb/08/viktor-yanukovych-ukraine-president-election https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/feb/08/viktor-yanukov...
        koonsolo 5y ago
        True that he was democratically elected. But it's hard to call a government democratic when they shoot and kill protesters.
        mbg721 5y ago
        Walling themselves off from (edit: potential) protesters at taxpayer expense is still good, though?
        leereeves 5y ago
        I'd say instead that it shows that being democratic doesn't preclude being corrupt and authoritarian.
- qnsi 5y ago
  CNN finds that twice as many Russians believe it would be right for Moscow to use military force to prevent Kyiv from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as say it would be wrong. One out of every two Russians (50%) says it would be right, while only a quarter (25%) say it would be wrong. The other quarter (25%) are unsure, according to the survey. But the poll also found that more Russians think it would be wrong than right to use military force “to reunite Russia and Ukraine” – two countries with a long and complicated history of being intertwined. It’s a close call, but 43% of Russians said use of military force against Ukraine to join it to Russia would be wrong, while 36% said it would be right. (The rest of the respondents said they didn’t know if it would be right or wrong.) https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2022/02/europe/russia-ukraine-crisis-poll-intl/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2022/02/europe/russia-uk...
  - igetspam 5y ago
    Anecdotal but... I was recently chatting with an old coworker. Their mother is still in Russia. The mother watches state run TV and listens to state run news. She doesn't really believe this is happening because the news says otherwise. She may believe there is some fighting but not that Russia is the aggressor. Obviously this is one relayed experience but it's important to keep propaganda machines in mind when talking about volumes of support.
    - seba_dos1 5y ago
      Spending effort on convincing their family and friends that the state propaganda is not to be trusted is probably the best middle-term investment a Russian can make right now.
      - fmcoder 5y ago
        Have tried it with my parents, unfortunately, they eat all this crap from Putin's TV. People who are brainwashed can't really be talked into reason. Politics start and end wars, but a person can break ties with his family irreversible because of those in-family political discussions.
- deleted 5y ago
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stickfigure 5y ago
This is an opportunity that The West is probably going to miss for ideological reasons. We should accept Russian engineers, scientists, doctors. Don't forget that during the Soviet era, they had to build walls to keep their intellectual capital from leaving. Take them!
- jxding 5y ago
  @pwnallthethings on Twitter makes exactly this point and I find it quite convincing. Link below. If (and this seems increasingly likely) this war drags on, we should try to attract and welcome as many Russian mathematicians, scientists, and engineers as we can before Putin forbids them from travelling. This is why I find the recent cancellation of many public Russian individuals concerning. We should be offering them citizenship (I exaggerate!), not shaming and dropping them. Rossophobia against normal Russian citizens is counterproductive. Thread: https://twitter.com/pwnallthethings/status/1497987709968605184?s=20&t=y985vljiGGTUgBMWv8L-4Q https://twitter.com/pwnallthethings/status/14979877099686051...
goto11 5y ago
In Europe you can generally only get political asylum if you are considered personally at risk of persecution. So just disagreeing with the government would not be enough. The current refugee crisis is going to be a challenge for Europe. I think most countries would rather spend their resourcing on helping the direct victims of the war rather than Russians fleeing from the consequences of the sanctions.

ChuckNorris89 5y ago

>Are any countries accepting refuges from Russia that seek asylum? This is an important topic. Some EU countries like Czechia are even blocking visas for Russian citizens now and I think this will be a trend in other EU countries. AFAIK, since Russia is the aggressor here and is (on paper) a democratic country (but not really), then its citizens are not considered yet victims of the war, and are most likely not falling under the rules of refugee status, unless they can clearly prove that the Russian government is a threat to their life, which would be a bit difficult (like if you're in political opposition to Putin). I honestly don't envy the Russian people now. They're forced into a conflict they don't want to be in, and are suffering the consequences.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
koonsolo 5y ago
> They're forced into a conflict they don't want to be in, and are suffering the consequences. Ukrainians are also forced into a conflict they don't want. Unfortunately, it's up to both the Ukrainians and Russians to do something about it, not Ukrainians alone. The Ukrainians clearly made their decision. Now it's up to the Russian people to make theirs.
- throwaway3968 5y ago
  > Now it's up to the Russian people to make theirs. There's nothing we can realistically do. It's up to the military to start a civil war.
  - koonsolo 5y ago
    The Euromaidan also started with normal civilians. It seems they just didn't accept no for an answer. Later they indeed threatened to involve the reserve army since they were on their side. But the army was not required. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_of_Dignity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_of_Dignity
  - CRConrad 5y ago
    >> Now it's up to the Russian people to make theirs. > There's nothing we can realistically do. Then you get to collectively carry the responsibility for that "inability"; for, by not rising up as one against the dictatorship, passively allowing it to continue. That's what was seen as appropriate for the nation you fought in your Great Patriotic War, so why shouldn't it be appropriate for yours?
  - rurp 5y ago
    Many awful dictators have been toppled by civilian revolts. Waiting for the military to get involved is not at all required. When enough citizens revolt there will be a point where police forces realize that they are on the wrong side, either for moral or self preservation reasons. Once they start refusing to defend the dictator, that dictator's power is done.
- bigboiseal 5y ago
  > The Ukrainians clearly made their decision. Now it's up to the Russian people to make theirs. Russia is a non-democratic country...
  - koonsolo 5y ago
    Ukraine was also a non-democratic country, until the people decided otherwise. And yes, it was pretty brutal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_of_Dignity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_of_Dignity
    - leereeves 5y ago
      > Ukraine was also a non-democratic country, until the people decided otherwise That's not true. The President of Ukraine who was overthrown in 2014 (Yanukovych) was democratically elected in 2010 in an election that international observers called fair, truly competitive, and an impressive display of democracy.[1] That President was supported mostly by the people of eastern Ukraine and opposed by the people of western Ukraine. 1: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/feb/08/viktor-yanukovych-ukraine-president-election https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/feb/08/viktor-yanukov...
      - koonsolo 5y ago
        True that he was democratically elected. But it's hard to call a government democratic when they shoot and kill protesters.
        mbg721 5y ago
        Walling themselves off from (edit: potential) protesters at taxpayer expense is still good, though?
        leereeves 5y ago
        I'd say instead that it shows that being democratic doesn't preclude being corrupt and authoritarian.
qnsi 5y ago
CNN finds that twice as many Russians believe it would be right for Moscow to use military force to prevent Kyiv from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as say it would be wrong. One out of every two Russians (50%) says it would be right, while only a quarter (25%) say it would be wrong. The other quarter (25%) are unsure, according to the survey. But the poll also found that more Russians think it would be wrong than right to use military force “to reunite Russia and Ukraine” – two countries with a long and complicated history of being intertwined. It’s a close call, but 43% of Russians said use of military force against Ukraine to join it to Russia would be wrong, while 36% said it would be right. (The rest of the respondents said they didn’t know if it would be right or wrong.) https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2022/02/europe/russia-ukraine-crisis-poll-intl/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2022/02/europe/russia-uk...
- igetspam 5y ago
  Anecdotal but... I was recently chatting with an old coworker. Their mother is still in Russia. The mother watches state run TV and listens to state run news. She doesn't really believe this is happening because the news says otherwise. She may believe there is some fighting but not that Russia is the aggressor. Obviously this is one relayed experience but it's important to keep propaganda machines in mind when talking about volumes of support.
  - seba_dos1 5y ago
    Spending effort on convincing their family and friends that the state propaganda is not to be trusted is probably the best middle-term investment a Russian can make right now.
    - fmcoder 5y ago
      Have tried it with my parents, unfortunately, they eat all this crap from Putin's TV. People who are brainwashed can't really be talked into reason. Politics start and end wars, but a person can break ties with his family irreversible because of those in-family political discussions.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

stickfigure 5y ago

This is an opportunity that The West is probably going to miss for ideological reasons. We should accept Russian engineers, scientists, doctors. Don't forget that during the Soviet era, they had to build walls to keep their intellectual capital from leaving. Take them!

jxding 5y ago
@pwnallthethings on Twitter makes exactly this point and I find it quite convincing. Link below. If (and this seems increasingly likely) this war drags on, we should try to attract and welcome as many Russian mathematicians, scientists, and engineers as we can before Putin forbids them from travelling. This is why I find the recent cancellation of many public Russian individuals concerning. We should be offering them citizenship (I exaggerate!), not shaming and dropping them. Rossophobia against normal Russian citizens is counterproductive. Thread: https://twitter.com/pwnallthethings/status/1497987709968605184?s=20&t=y985vljiGGTUgBMWv8L-4Q https://twitter.com/pwnallthethings/status/14979877099686051...

goto11 5y ago

In Europe you can generally only get political asylum if you are considered personally at risk of persecution. So just disagreeing with the government would not be enough. The current refugee crisis is going to be a challenge for Europe. I think most countries would rather spend their resourcing on helping the direct victims of the war rather than Russians fleeing from the consequences of the sanctions.