Passportization

Passportization is defined as the mass conferral of citizenship to the population of a particular foreign territory by distributing passports, generally within a relatively short period.[1][2][3] This policy has primarily been used by Russian authorities who have provided easy access for persons, usually holders of former Soviet passports, to apply for Russian passports.[4] The basis for these naturalizations is Art. 14 Russian Citizenship Act, amended in 2002, which allows naturalization in a simplified procedure.[5] In particular, the requirement of five years' residence on Russian territory is suspended for former citizens of the Soviet Union, Art. 14 para. 4 Russian Citizenship Act. As the number of Russian passport holders in regions of adjoining nations grows, Russia then invokes its national interest in defending its citizens by promoting the independence or annexation of these regions.[6] This process has been most common in Georgia and Ukraine.

This article describes modern efforts by one country, generally Russia, to induce residents of another, voluntarily or involuntarily, to take up its citizenship. For the Soviet practice of mandating citizens identity papers (internal passports), see Propiska in the Soviet Union.

Georgia

In Georgia this occurred in South Ossetia and Abkhazia,[7] where residents continued to be the citizens of Soviet Union and kept Soviet passports even a decade after the break-up of the Soviet Union.[8] In 2002, a new Citizenship Law of Russia simplified acquisition of citizenship for any citizen of the Soviet Union, regardless current place of residence. In Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Russian nationalist non-governmental organizations such as the Congress of Russian Communities of Abkhazia carried papers to a nearby Russian city for processing so that residents did not need to travel to obtain Russian citizenship.[9] By June 25, 2002, approximately 150,000 Abkhazians had gained Russian citizenship in addition to the 50,000 who already possessed it, with the blessing of authorities in Sukhum.[8] The Georgian Foreign Ministry denounced the passport allocation as an “unprecedented illegal campaign”. On February 1, 2011, Soviet passports were no longer considered valid for crossing the Russian-Abkhaz border.[10]

In April 2009, the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities stated there was "pressure being exercised on the Georgian population in the Gali District through the limitation of their education rights, compulsory "passportization", forced conscription into the Abkhaz military forces and restrictions on their freedom of movement."[11] An effort to force ethnic Georgians in Abkhazia to take on Abkhaz citizenship was rebuffed in 2009.[12]

Russia's extraterritorial naturalisation practice in South Ossetia and Abkhazia since 2002 constitutes an intervention contrary to international law and violates Georgia's territorial sovereignty.[13]

Ukraine

Russia has been naturalising people in the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk on a large scale since 2019.[14] This became possible after Art. 29 para. 1.1 Russian Citizenship Act was inserted by law of 27 December 2018. This provision empowers the Russian President to establish categories of foreign citizens and stateless persons eligible to apply for Russian citizenship under the simplified procedure. By Decree No. 183 of 24 April 2019, residents of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions became eligible accordingly.

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, forced passportization has also been done against Ukrainians in the occupied parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.[15]

References
  1. Nagashima, Toru (2019-05-04). "Russia's Passportization Policy toward Unrecognized Republics". Problems of Post-Communism. 66 (3): 186–199. doi:10.1080/10758216.2017.1388182. ISSN 1075-8216. S2CID 158167424.
  2. Artman, Vincent M. (2013-07-01). "Documenting Territory: Passportisation, Territory, and Exception in Abkhazia and South Ossetia". Geopolitics. 18 (3): 682–704. doi:10.1080/14650045.2013.769963. ISSN 1465-0045. S2CID 144134462.
  3. Hoffmann, Patrick R. (2022). Völkerrechtliche Vorgaben für die Verleihung der Staatsangehörigkeit. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. pp. 147–152. ISBN 978-3-16-161110-0.
  4. Ganohariti, Ramesh (2020), "Politics of Passportization and Territorial Conflicts", The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Peace and Conflict Studies, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1–8, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-11795-5_182-1, ISBN 978-3-030-11795-5, S2CID 239978550, retrieved 2021-06-19
  5. Hoffmann, Patrick R. (2022). Völkerrechtliche Vorgaben für die Verleihung der Staatsangehörigkeit. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. p. 149. ISBN 978-3-16-161110-0.
  6. Ganohariti, Ramesh (2020), "Politics of Passportization and Territorial Conflicts", The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Peace and Conflict Studies, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1–8, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-11795-5_182-1, ISBN 978-3-030-11795-5, S2CID 239978550, retrieved 2021-06-19
  7. "Human Rights in the Occupied Territories of Georgia". Osce.org. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  8. Inal Khashig (2002-06-27). "Abkhaz Rush For Russian Passports". Institute for War & Peace Reporting. Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
  9. "Russian Federation: Legal Aspects of War in Georgia". Library of Congress.
  10. Anton Krivenuk (2011-02-01). "Abkhaz Rush For Russian Passports". GeorgiaTimes. Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
  11. OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities deeply concerned by recent developments in Abkhazia. OSCE Press Release. 14 April 2009 Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  12. Head of Abkhaz NSC Resigns. Civil Georgia. 18 August 2009
  13. Hoffmann, Patrick R. (2022). Völkerrechtliche Vorgaben für die Verleihung der Staatsangehörigkeit. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. pp. 277–284. ISBN 978-3-16-161110-0.
  14. Hoffmann, Patrick R. (2022). Völkerrechtliche Vorgaben für die Verleihung der Staatsangehörigkeit. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. p. 149. ISBN 978-3-16-161110-0.
  15. "Forced passportization in the temporarily occupied territories: why one should not take a Russian passport", VisitUkraine, 14 August 2022
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