Georgian authorities have denied international protection to 17 Ukrainian citizens who have spent nearly a year in the basement of the Dariali border crossing point (Upper Lars) on the Georgia–Russia border. Once the decisions take legal effect, they could be deported at any moment.
Yesterday a protest action took place in front of the deportation center in Zurich. The participants opposed the sending to Russia of a 40-year-old native of Chechnya, a refugee Ali Bataev, who is threatened with torture and death in his homeland. It is reported by "Caucasus. Realities".
Ali Bataev has been on a hunger strike for 56 days in the administrative detention center for foreigners in Zurich, without receiving any medical assistance. The resolution of the action participants, sent to the authorities of Switzerland, states that the Chechen refugees are forced to leave their occupied homeland and do not want to participate in Russian aggression against Ukraine.
In 2022, Ali Bataev left Ukraine for Switzerland. In September 2022, he was placed in a deportation center, and now they can extradite him to Russia. Bataev went on a hunger strike in protest. If deported to Russia, he faces torture and death for criticizing the Chechen authorities.