Russian forces have forcibly relocated Ukrainian civilians to areas under Russian control, according to human rights activists. Many of those affected had fled the fighting, according to a report by the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) published on Thursday. Forced resettlement is “a serious violation of the laws of war, amounting to a war crime and a possible crime against humanity,” the organization said.For the report, HRW employees interviewed 54 people. Accordingly, many of those affected fled the southern Ukrainian port of Mariupol, which came under Russian control in May after heavy fighting and weeks of siege. Other people who were forced to move came from the Kharkiv region in the east of the country.
Of course we would have taken the opportunity to go to Ukraine if we could,” Human Rights Watch quoted a woman from Mariupol as saying. But they had neither the choice nor the opportunity to go to areas controlled by Kyiv. “Driving people deeper into the Russian-occupied territories and further into Russia without their consent” must stop immediately, said HRW expert Belkis Wille.
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Along the way, many Ukrainians were also subjected to a mandatory security check, which includes taking biometric data such as fingerprints, strip searches and searches of personal belongings, according to the report. These controls have no legal basis and are a “clear violation of the right to privacy,” HRW said.
