A German court has denied residency and ordered the deportation of a young Russian man who sought asylum to avoid being drafted into the war in Ukraine.
According to foreign media reports on the 31st of last month (local time), the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court overturned a lower court ruling and ruled against the plaintiff, a Russian male born in 2004, in his lawsuit against Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees seeking humanitarian residency permission.
The man argued that if he returned home, he would likely be deployed to the Ukrainian front as a contract soldier (professional military personnel) against his will. The first-instance court accepted this argument and recognized the German government's obligation to provide protection, citing the risk of death or injury and the possibility of being forced to commit acts that violate international law.
The appellate court reached a different conclusion. It found that there was insufficient evidence that the man would actually be deployed to the war as a contract soldier. The court also ruled that simply fulfilling basic military service obligations in Russia did not constitute a concrete risk of torture or inhumane treatment, and therefore did not meet the requirements for refugee status or humanitarian residency permission.
The ruling reflects the reality of how Russian asylum seekers in Germany have been treated since the war began. In September 2022, then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged to actively protect Russian conscientious objectors, citing Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a violation of international law. However, of the 6,374 Russian men aged 18 to 45 who applied for asylum in Germany between the outbreak of the war and April of last year, only 349 were granted refugee status or humanitarian residency permission. Germany's leftist camp maintains that conscientious objectors should also be recognized as refugees, suggesting that the debate will continue.
