Russian Federation

Working environment 

• The conflict in Ukraine continued to trigger a steady movement of persons of concern (PoC) into the Russian Federation. The Government continued to lead the operational response to the needs of arrivals from Ukraine. 
• Newly-arrived asylum-seekers from countries other than Ukraine experienced longer waiting period to access asylum procedures, and were exposed to risks associated with the absence of documentation including deportation.
• A significant number of foreign citizens (up to 5,000 people), including asylum-seekers and Temporary Asylum holders, chose to leave Russia for Norway with a view to seek asylum there.
• The number of stateless persons in the country has been further reduced; however, the problem is yet to be fully resolved. UNHCR continued awareness-raising activities and legal assistance through partner organizations for individuals seeking to regularize their status.

Population trends

• By the end of 2015, 314,506 (311,407 Ukrainians) have the refugee status, while around 550,000 Ukrainians enjoyed other forms of legal stay in the Russian Federation.
• 152,489 new asylum claims (149,142 Ukrainians, 1,461 Syrians and 913 Afghans, among others origins) were lodged. 
• 113,474 people are estimated to be stateless on the basis of the 2010 census.

Achievements and impact

• Several capacity-building initiatives on refugee protection issues, including on reception conditions, were conducted for 258 staff from the Federal Migration Service and other government institutions, and NGOs.
• UNHCR endeavoured to mainstream AGD in all activities. In cooperation with its partners and governmental counterparts, participatory assessments were conducted in several regions and maintained monitoring mechanisms to help in the identification of vulnerable PoC.
• A mapping exercise was completed to identify locations with settlements of stateless persons and regions with reportedly higher number of stateless people. 

Unmet needs

• Lack of timely statistics and absence of accurate data about cases that exhausted the national status determination procedure hampered UNHCR’s ability to conduct a more thorough analysis of the situation and undertake targeted interventions.
• Access to education remains challenging for asylum-seekers and refugees.  As of late 2014, a Ministry of Education regulation requiring registration at the place of sojourn for admission to local schools, inhibiting access for many children.
• An outreach campaign for stateless persons was not implemented, which prevented UNHCR to better map the scope and scale of statelessness issues in the country. 

Working environment

In the course of 2014, the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian citizens fleeing the conflict in their home country has brought a major change to the working environment in the Russian Federation. The Government has taken on responsibility for this population and offers Ukrainians different types of status, including asylum, work and residence permits, naturalization and a resettlement programme. UNHCR is not involved directly, but remains on standby to assist if requested. 
 
A new asylum law has been under discussion with the authorities for several years. As the latest draft has not taken UNHCR’s comments into consideration, its adoption would represent a considerable setback in relation to international refugee law standards. 

While the presence of Ukrainian refugees has generally met with public empathy, attitudes towards people of non-Slavic origin have not softened. Xenophobic attitudes remain prevalent throughout the country. Moreover, UNHCR is concerned that preferential treatment for Ukrainians may result in less attention for the needs of non- Ukrainian asylum-seekers. 
 
According to a new law, some of UNHCR’s non-governmental partners have been determined as “foreign agents”; this may hamper advocacy efforts for people of concern.

Needs and strategies

UNHCR’s strategy in 2015 aims towards a new level of cooperation with the Russian Federation on domestic policies regarding refugees, returnees and the prevention or reduction of statelessness.

The Office will continue to advise the Government on international standards regarding legislation and the quality of refugee status determination (RSD).

The pursuit of a favourable integration climate, through the UN Country Team and NGO partnerships, the authorities and the media will include efforts to address xenophobic tendencies. It will also build on inter-agency working groups to implement an urban refugee policy.

UNHCR will continue to lobby for the accession of the Russian Federation to both UN Statelessness Conventions.