Activists from NCFD demand not to adopt draft law on repatriation

More than eighty human rights defenders, activists, and cultural figures from the republics of Northern Caucasus have sent an appeal to the President of Russia with a call to stop the adoption of the draft law “On Repatriation to the Russian Federation”. It will become an obstacle to repatriation of people and will weaken the loyalty of the diasporas, activists believe.

More than eighty human rights defenders, activists, and cultural figures from the republics of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) have sent an appeal to the President of Russia calling to stop the adoption of the draft law “On Repatriation to the Russian Federation”. The authors of the appeal, sent to President Putin on May 4, state that the draft law is causing a strong reaction among the peoples of Northern Caucasus both in Russia and in the abroad diasporas. The main criticism of the draft law concerns the requirement for mandatory knowledge of the Russian language to apply for repatriation. The activists who signed the appeal treat the mentioned provision of the draft law as a discriminatory point, which contradicts the Constitution of the Russian Federation, in particular, Article 68, which recognizes the right of the republics to establish their own official state languages.

“It would be fair for compatriots who speak any of the state languages of a subject of the Russian Federation to be granted the right to repatriation,” the authors of the appeal emphasize. The activists who signed the appeal emphasize that there are no conditions for regular study of the Russian language in the countries where compatriots live, and therefore it is advisable to organize the studies after the compatriots return to their homeland, as the similar situation has already taken place in the case of Circassians from Kosovo and Syria.

Particular attention is being paid to the experience of students from the diasporas, who have been studying at Russian universities for decades, mastering the Russian language, obtaining academic degrees, and contributing to the development of the country.

The appeal qualifies the requirement to know the Russian language as a form of discrimination on the basis of nationality, which violates the rights of peoples to self-determination and undermines the principles of the Russian federalism. “This does not work to strengthen the security and integrity of the country,” claim the people who signed the appeal.

On behalf of the public of Northern Caucasus, the authors of the appeal call on the President of Russia, as the guarantor of the Constitution, to exclude from the draft law the requirement for mandatory knowledge of the Russian language and to take into account the position of the peoples of the region. The appeal has been signed by activists of the scientific and cultural community, human rights defenders, journalists, military veterans, lawyers from Adygea, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, the Krasnodar Territory, and activists from the “Golos Beslana” (Voice of Beslan) movement from North Ossetia.

Circassians of Russia and Turkey treat Zatulin’s draft law as discriminatory

Earlier, activists from Russia and Turkey have voiced similar criticism of the draft law on repatriation.

Faruk Arslandok, the chair of the Circassian Democratic Party of Turkey, has voiced a public appeal to Russian State Duma member Konstantin Zatulin, sharply criticizing the draft law on repatriation that the Russian MP had introduced. In his appeal on April 30, Faruk Arslandok called the draft law discriminatory, contradicting the Constitution of the Russian Federation and threatening the federal structure of the country by excluding from the number of compatriots millions of Circassians who were forcibly expelled from the Caucasus in the 19th century.

According to the Faruk Arslandok’s version, such an approach violates the rights of peoples who have their own state languages within the republics of the Russian Federation. “For repatriation, knowledge of one of the state languages of the republics of Russia should be sufficient,” Faruk Arslandok emphasized in his appeal.

The chair of the Circassian Democratic Party of Turkey emphasizes that the ancestors of the Circassians were born and lived on the territory of modern Russia, and therefore any “impositions” that exclude descendants from the number of compatriots are “inappropriate from the point of view of both constitutional and historical rights.”

Earlier, on April 28, the “Zhylebze” public organization sent an appeal to the Russian federal and regional authorities with criticism of the draft law “On Repatriation to the Russian Federation”. The authors of the appeal have requested the authorities to prevent the adoption of the draft law in the proposed version, claiming its discriminatory nature and inconsistency with the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The “Zhylebze” public organization states that imposing additional requirements on those who were forced to leave their homeland as a result of historical tragedies is inhumane and offensive. The “Zhylebze” public organization has called on the federal and republics’ authorities to prevent the adoption of the draft law on repatriation.

Circassians fear resumption of repressive practices against repatriates

The Circassian diaspora in Turkey believes that the draft law on repatriation will be repressive for its people who already live in Russia and will become an obstacle to the repatriation of those who wish to return to the land of their ancestors.

“By hook or by crook, Russia is getting rid of Circassian repatriates, squeezing out their businesses, fabricating criminal cases against them, and depriving them of their residence permits. And it doesn’t matter what they come up with a next Circassian who naively returns to his homeland,” the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent was told by a Circassian activist from Russia, who left for Turkey for security reasons.

Valery Khatazhukov, the head of the Kabardino-Balkarian Human Rights Centre, believes that “it is unacceptable to require knowledge of the Russian language upon a person’s entry to the country.” The human rights defender believes that such a requirement “cuts off the majority of potential repatriates.” “The draft law violates the right to cultural identity and undermines the federal structure of the country,” Valery Khatazhukov claims. The human rights defender notes that since the beginning of repatriation in the 1990s, “the number of Circassians returning to their homeland has been decreasing.” Valery Khatazhukov has also mentioned the cases of unfair actions against repatriates. He believes that “the requirement to know the Russian language before entering the country is a blow to the languages of peoples and to the very idea of federalism,” the expert believes.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 4, 2025 at 09:09 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.