Muslim asylum seekers from Russia create association of Muslim refugees

KYIV. Nov 21 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Citizens of Russia and Central Asian states professing Islam, who arrived in Ukraine to seek asylum from persecution in their homeland, are uniting into the Azan Association of Muslim Refugees, hoping for legal protection from the Ukrainian state.

"We, the Muslims, turned out to be an unnecessary part of the society in our homeland, the Russian authorities cynically began to get rid of us, and with the question 'Where can we find justice?' we began to leave the country massively," Tagir Minibaev, a co-founder of the association, said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Monday, November 20.

According to him, while fleeing persecution, Russian Muslims seek refuge in Turkey and Ukraine.

He added: "Perhaps we will find justice here in Ukrainian society, since you have felt all that the Russian regime is doing with your citizens - our fellow believers in Crimea."

Minibaev noted that applicants for refugee status had nothing to hide and that they were open to the Ukrainian society.

"We are neither extremists nor terrorists. All this motivates us - refugee seekers - to unite to solve our problems with citizens of Ukraine in the form of a public initiative - the Azan Association of Muslim Refugees," he said.

According to him, the purpose of creating the public initiative is to help Muslim applicants for refugee status obtain legal information protection from the Ukrainian state.

Anvar Derkach, a co-founder of the association, in turn, added: "I consulted with lawyers who provide legal assistance to asylum seekers in Ukraine. They agree that Ukrainian migration legislation is imperfect, but Ukraine has ratified all international conventions on assistance to refugees, and this, in the opinion of experts, is enough to ensure that asylum seekers who have sufficient grounds for this are granted asylum in Ukraine."