Gay Russians Are Trying To Flee Kidnapping And Torture. The US Has Denied Them Visas.
Source: BuzzFeed News
Around 40 survivors of the crackdown in Chechnya are in hiding in other parts of Russia, but can't find a safe country to take them in.
Posted on May 17, 2017, at 2:01 p.m.
J. Lester Feder
BuzzFeed News Reporter
The United States has declined visas to gay Chechens fleeing a wave of kidnappings, torture, and disappearances in the semi-autonomous Russian region, according to the organization Russia LGBT Network.
A group of around 40 Chechens are now in hiding in other parts of Russia, Russia LGBT Network spokesperson Svetlana Zakharova told BuzzFeed News, and are having difficulty securing visas that would allow them to flee the country.
Since the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta first reported the abuse of dozens of gay Chechens in April, just two have managed to secure visas to safe countries despite the European Union and the United States expressing concern about the allegations, Zakharova said. A handful of gay Chechens have fled without visas because they believed the danger of staying in Russia was too great. A US State Department spokesperson said in a statement provided on background that the department could not comment on the visa denials because, "As visa records are confidential under U.S. law, we are unable to discuss individual cases."
Left with no way to get out, the gay men seeking visas continue to fear for their lives in Russia. The strongman who rules Chechnya with near impunity, Ramzan Kadyrov, is accused of having his critics hunted down both in other parts of Russia and outside Russia's borders.
Read more: https://www.buzzfeed.com/lesterfeder/us-denies-visas-to-gay-russians-fleeing-kidnapping-and?utm_term=.jcz5LLD4y#.bt11zzb7E
tenorly
(2,037 posts)bdamomma
(63,652 posts)the US is supposed welcome people not turn them away. Stupid tRump.
davsand
(13,420 posts)We deny visas to gay Russians. They may well die because they are forced to stay there. Sharia law says they are to be beaten in public. Not sure how we can pretend to claim any sort of moral superiority here.
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2017/05/shariah-court-sentences-gay-lovers-public-caning/