More Than 80 People Have Requested Assistance
The Trump administration’s Department of State is refusing U.S. visas to dozens of gay men from Chechnya seeking to flee Russia after a wave of kidnappings, torture, and murders of other gay men.
The group of approximately 40 are hiding in fear of retribution from the government in Chechnya, which is led by Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov.Â
According to a report by Buzzfeed‘s J. Lester Feder published Tuesday, the Russian LGBT Network is claiming that the United States has declined to issue the visas. Russian LGBT Network spokesperson, Svetlana Zakharova, told Feder the forty gay Chechens fled the semi-autonomous Caucus Republic without visas, because they believed the danger of staying was too great.
On its website the Russian LGBT Network reports more than 80 people have requested assistance.
After the Russian opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta first reported the abuse of gay Chechens in April, only two have managed to secure visas to safe countries despite the European Union and the United States expressing concern about the allegations, Zakharova said told Buzzfeed.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson said in a statement provided on background to Buzzfeed that the department could not comment on the visa denials. “As visa records are confidential under U.S. law, we are unable to discuss individual cases.â€
Header photo: U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on May 10, 2016.
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Image by МИД РоÑÑии via Flickr and a CC license
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