QCEA joins call to protect COs
‘With very few exceptions, Russians refusing to fight in Ukraine are finding it impossible to get humanitarian visas'
Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) has joined calls for the European Parliament to reiterate its demand that member states should provide protection for conscientious objectors (COs) and deserters fleeing Belarus, Russia and occupied Ukraine. The call follows a previous demand, made in February 2023, which QCEA said is not always being followed.
‘With very few exceptions, Russians refusing to fight in Ukraine are finding it impossible to get humanitarian visas from EU Member State embassies,’ QCEA said, in a statement with other peace organisations. ‘Often they are told to go back to Russia to apply at the embassies there, despite their safety being at risk in those countries. In Lithuania, those fleeing military service in Belarus often find themselves under threat of deportation. This despite the real risk of intimidation, arrest or imprisonment, especially for those who leave military service.’
Meanwhile, civil society organisations that help those refusing to fight find themselves labelled as ‘foreign agents’, QCEA added.
