Chechen authorities denying passports to residents under 30 if older relatives are not present

Chechnya’s Interior Ministry has begun refusing to issue foreign passports to residents younger than 30 if the applicants are not accompanied by older relatives. The agency said in response to a complaint by lawyer Alexander Nemov that the policy is intended to ensure that “the goals of a trip are not contrary to the interests of the Russian Federation,” according to the crisis group SK SOS.

The ministry cited a resolution passed by the Antiterrorism Committee of the republic’s Economic and Public Security Council in 2015 to justify the practice. According to Nemov, who is representing a Chechnya resident who was denied a passport, the policy is unlawful because it violates citizens’ right to freedom of movement, while the 2015 resolution has no legal bearing and violates existing law.