German federal states are using unforeseen measures to force Ukrainian refugees who refuse military service to return home, reports Focus. These actions, which had previously gone unnoticed, have only recently caused quite a stir.
Until now, their actions remained unnoticed. The uproar first started only last week, when the government of Hessen said in response to a request from AdN: “The immigration authorities of Hessen will not issue any German documents replacing foreign passports to Ukrainian men of conscription age. It would be expedient for them to go to Ukraine to get a passport there and undergo mandatory military service."
Now Ukrainian men have to go to their homeland and continue their documents there - at the same time, most likely, they will immediately be taken to the army. Until now, this has not happened, because the federal lands issued a foreigner's passport to Ukrainians. Now there is no such possibility anymore – and not only in Hesse.
State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice of the Federal Land of Baden-Württemberg, Siegfried Lorek, confirmed that the authorities in his land "no longer issue German travel documents to Ukrainian men conscripted into the military." The CDU politician himself considers it reasonable for Ukrainians to undergo military service. "No injustice is happening to them - on the contrary, according to Ukrainian legislation, they are subject to prosecution for desertion," Lorek explained. According to him, the government wants to continue to provide support to Ukraine, promoting its ability to self-defense, and this includes "encouraging citizens to stand up for the defense of their country."
The Bavarian government also supports this approach. Minister of Internal Affairs Joachim Herrmann stated: "I have repeatedly called on the federal government to make reasonable clarifications on the issue of conscript refugees from Ukraine. It is not only about whether to issue us documents instead of expired Ukrainian passports, but also about whether we are weakening Ukraine's defense capability with the current rules."
