Shift #3 (1 hr) - FCIL (Foreign, Comparative & International Law) Webinar on the Weaponization of Passports

Shift #3 - FCIL (Foreign, Comparative & International Law) Webinar on the Weaponization of Passports

Thursday, May 23, 2024 | 1-2 pm CST/12-3 pm EST (1 hr)

Details

Michelle Hurt, student/intern

Jennifer Gonzalez, practicum supervisor

This is a screenshot of the first slide of the webinar hosted by the FCIL department. This was a very robust presentation as the host spoke in depth about Russia's forced passportization laws. 

During my lunch break at work, I participated in a webinar hosted by the department of Foreign, Comparative & International Law (FCIL) on the weaponization of passports by Russia. This was a very timely topic as the war in Ukraine continues. Passportization is a policy of Russia and is a way for the country to exert their dominance over people in territories that were formerly part of the Soviet Union. The host spoke rather fast so I looked up the definition of passportization later on, in order to truly understand this policy. According to Global Citizenship Observatory, passportization is "one of the tools Russia used to justify its political and military engagement in the post-Soviet space" and is a "fast-track extraterritorial naturalization en masse of citizens residing in contested territories of a third country" (Bescotti, Burkhardt, Rabinovych & Wittke, 2022). In addition, it "effectively created Russian citizens in the contested territories of neighbouring states, like in Georgia and Ukraine, in the context of protracted conflicts of secession" (Bescotti, Burkhardt, Rabinovych & Wittke, 2022). In the simplest of terms, this Russian policy has been enacted to give grounds for enlarging the country's territories beyond their borders and for military campaigns. Though the U.S.S.R. collapsed in 1991, difficulties in newly-formed countries (like civil wars between ethnic groups) made it easy for Russia to create foreign policy that would still tie these territories to them. 

This is a screenshot from the host's presentation. She provided a background on post-Soviet Union collapse and how passportization came to be.

The host discussed passportization policies in specific countries. She spoke about the policy in Georgia and how Russia forced people who were non-Russian citizens to obtain passports (unless they rejected the citizenship within a year of the mandate). Russia used their policy as a way to justify attacking Georgia in order to protect their "citizens". Russia deemed it their duty to protect their compatriots abroad and passportization made it easy for them to do this, as they saw themselves as "protector". In this presentation I also learned about passportization in Ukraine, where there are some territories that are considered part of Russia (like Crimea and parts of Donetsk and Kherson). People in these territories had to show their allegiance to Russia by acquiring citizenship and passports but for those who did not do this, they suffered difficulties when obtaining jobs, receiving basic services (even healthcare), and even traveling within and outside their territory. There is a 2014 law enacted by Ukraine that recognized citizens' rights, even if they were living in foreign territory, like those under Russian control. As a way to combat Russia's policy, Ukraine passed a law in 2022 that makes it illegal for civil servants to give passports to Ukrainian citizens in contested territories and that foreign citizenship forced by aggressors like Russia is not recognized by Ukraine as legal. In addition, I also learned about displaced minors and how they are affected by passportization. The International Criminal Court, in 2022, even accused Russia of imposing citizenship on children age fourteen and younger. The Foreign Minister of Ukraine declared that all citizens, including children of any age, who are forced to go to Russia are to remain citizens of Ukraine. 

There was so much information in the presentation that it could have been a two-hour webinar! I'm glad I took notes because there is more that I can learn about what is happening to Ukrainian people, even today.

Sources:

https://globalcit.eu/passportization-russias-humanitarian-tool-for-foreign-policy-extra-territorial-governance-and-military-intervention/