Support Russian conscientious objectors

International human rights law affirms people’s right, due to principled conviction, to refuse to participate in military conflict, and conscientious objection has a long and rich history. You would think that those resisting this war would be able to find refuge in European countries, but in August, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky asked his Western allies to reject all Russian émigrés. Currently, all non-visa travel from Russia to EU countries is suspended.

As Russian men fled after Putin’s conscription announcement, Latvia closed its border with Russia, and Finland said it was likely going to be tightening its visa policy for Russians. 

The Biden administration has said that Russians fleeing Putin’s draft are “welcome” in the US and encouraged them to apply for asylum in the United States. But as far back as last October, before Russia invaded Ukraine, amid tit-for-tat US-Russia tensions, Washington announced it would henceforth only issue visas to Russians through the US Embassy in Warsaw, 750 miles away from Moscow — and continued into fiscal year 2023 its FY2022 global refugee cap of 125,000.

The International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) is petitioning European institutions to support the brave war resisters and we need the US to support them as well.

READ THE LETTER BELOW AND ADD YOUR NAME.

Dear President Biden,

We the undersigned ask that you grant immediate asylum and assistance to Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian conscientious objectors and dissenters. 

Since President Vladimir V. Putin announced a new troop call-up on September 21, 2002, eligible Russian men have been fleeing the country in droves to escape the draft. However, neither the U.S. nor Europe have changed the policies that make it difficult for Russians to enter. Within three days of Russia’s announcement that it was instituting a draft, 261,000 men, according to a source inside Russia’s Federal Security Service, had fled the country.  An estimated 22,000 Belarusian military draftees have left their country because they don’t want to participate in the war in Ukraine. 

Ukraine suspended the right to conscientious objection and closed the border for men between 18 and 60. Over 100,000 men have evaded war involvement in Ukraine and fled abroad. 

Everyone who has refused service risks persecution – up to ten years for Russian draft dodgers – because of their stand against the war. These brave men are our hope for peace and they need protection.

Instead of continuing to provide weapons – at least $40 billion in military assistance to Ukraine to date – that prolong and escalate this war that could easily result in nuclear catastrophe, we call on you to support and grant asylum to Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian conscientious objectors and deserters. 

Sincerely,