On May 23, the Russian newsroom of the Finnish broadcasting company Yle reported on the decision of the UN Committee against Torture on the complaint of a Chechen refugee against Finland.
In the complaint, the applicant, whose name has not been disclosed, challenges his deportation from Finland to Russia. As the UN Committee against Torture notes, if he is returned to his homeland, he “faces a foreseeable, real and personal risk of torture.” The applicant's deportation to Russia therefore violates Article 3 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
The UN executive body has ruled that Finnish authorities must re-examine the asylum application. Finland is also asked to refrain from deporting the appellant following the re-examination of his application.
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the number of Chechen refugees trying to escape mobilization and repression in their homeland in Europe increased. However, not everyone succeeds in obtaining asylum in the European Union. Thus, in April, a court in Croatia denied the status of political refugees and international protection to five natives of Chechnya. In September 2022, the ECHR overturned the decision of the French authorities to deport two refugees from Chechnya to Russia.
On November 1, 2022, the French human rights organizations Habitat-cité and Comité Tchétchénie sent an appeal to the UN, declaring the inadmissibility of the deportation of Chechen refugees from France. The authors of the document called on the UN to remind France of its obligation to protect ethnic and religious minorities and ensure their security; abolish ethnic criteria in the fight against radicalization and terrorism and create a body that will receive complaints of discrimination and protect refugees from abusive administrative measures.