Since the beginning of the war, more than 10,000 Russians have arrived in Argentina to give birth

First modification: 02/14/2023 – 11:43

In Argentina, where 5,819 pregnant Russian women have arrived in the last three months, the immigration authorities argue that about 70% of those who gave birth in the South American country do not stay in it for more than a few months, necessary to obtain an Argentine passport. for babies.

statelessness

Given the acceleration of the phenomenon, Migration has tightened controls and last week detained six women in an advanced state of pregnancy at the Ezeiza airport. For Christian Rubilar, the lawyer who has been in charge of freeing three of them, this dynamic is due to the collateral damage generated by the war between Russia and Ukraine.

“The sanctions that both Europe and the Russian government itself are imposing on their own citizens, who do not agree with the war or who desert, are situations that generate statelessness, that is, loss of citizenship rights. So it is logical that they look for the obvious solution, which is a new citizenship”, says Rubilar.

traffic networks

The Argentine government has requested an investigation of the gangs that profit from this new business: “What happens and what has been discovered is that there are opportunists who have set up large networks of human trafficking who organize the transfer, how to lie to Migration, They have lodging and have a false promise that they will obtain Argentine citizenship expressly, which is not possible”, the lawyer emphasizes.

“There is one that openly offers packages of 5,000, I think 7,500 and 15,000 dollars. And there is another one that was raided these days, that I was scandalized because I thought it charged $15,000, and it turns out that it charged between $30 and $50,000, ”he emphasizes.

Christian Rubilar contradicts the version of the Migration Department that stated that the Russian pregnant women who entered Argentina have a high purchasing power: “There is everything because there are people with a high purchasing power, but what was basically demonstrated is that the lack of Migration criteria led to the arrest of the only five or six who surely had not had any advice or had hired any international migrant transit service. The girl who was detained for the longest days and who suffered the most, her husband is a deserted bricklayer, and she came alone because her husband escaped from Russia, ”he details.

Intimidation

According to him, Russia is aware of these revenues. As for knowing if there will be reprisals, “I don’t like to speculate, but what I can tell you is that the Russian consul had contact with this girl who was detained for several days and let her know how unhappy he was with the transcendence that he had this, so that was, I think, a clear act of intimidation. And if he was capable of intimidating a pregnant woman in Argentine territory, it is that they are capable in Russia ”.

Obtaining an Argentine passport enables you to travel to 171 countries without a visa, including destinations that are now closed to Russian citizens due to the war. In addition, newborns acquire citizenship which can later be obtained by the parents.