Saturday, February 11, 2023 | 8:30 a.m.
A few hours after the Justice ordered the provisional entry of six Russian pregnant women who were being held at Ezeiza, an Ethiopian Airlines flight arrived this Friday night with 83 Russian passengers, including 14 other women who are expecting a child.
On Thursday, a group of pregnant Russian women had been detained at the Ezeiza airport because they did not have sufficient documentation to prove their presence as tourists. They are between 25 and 35 years old and it is suspected that they came to the country escaping the war between Russia and Ukraine. In addition, they entered without money or a return ticket.
Federal judge Luis Armella authorized the provisional entry into the country of four of the pregnant Russian women who filed habeas corpus petitions after being detained at the airport. Migration sources reported that although the Court’s decision refers to four, they will all be able to enter the country. In principle it will be a “provisional landing” and they must continue with the corresponding administrative actions.
This Friday night, a situation with similar characteristics arose, but it is being fully analyzed by the Migration area. At 10 p.m., an Ethiopian airline flight from Russia arrived at the Ezeiza airport, and an alert was generated again about the phenomenon.
On the plane that arrived this Friday night, 83 Russian passengers of different sexes and ages traveled, but among them were 14 pregnant women. For this reason, the procedure to analyze whether they have documentation proving their entry into the country as tourists was initiated.
Weeks ago, the English newspaper The Guardian highlighted the trend of “birth tourism” as a consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions to which the citizens of the aggressor country are subject. Within this framework, Argentina became one of the main destinations due to the ease of travel since no visa is required and the possibility of having a second nationality.
In 2022, 10,500 Russian pregnant women entered Argentina, of which 5,800 did so in the last three months, reported the National Directorate of Migrations. In recent days, the situation has resounded again since some women were detained in Ezeiza. After obtaining provisional admission, Armella stated that it was decided “given the state of advanced pregnancy, and for humanitarian reasons.”
He also stated that “what Migrations did was correct insofar as to enter to settle in the country you have to go through the corresponding procedures and not declare entry as a tourist.” And it is that the women who had not been admitted to enter the country, were retained as part of the administrative procedure aimed at resolving suspected cases of “false tourists.” Beyond the fact that it is part of the usual operation, the Prosecutor’s Office considered that denying them access would be a case of discrimination.
The national director of Migrations, Florencia Carignano, explained that the Russian women arrived in the country alone and all “in the 33rd or 34th week of pregnancy.” When questioned, they stated that they would go sightseeing but “when we see that they do not have a return ticket, that they do not know how to explain where they are going to go sightseeing, something that is rare for a 34-week pregnant woman, we begin to suspect that they are not coming to do tourism.” held.
Although the official clarified that “it is not a crime” to have a child in the country, those people who have a nationality that is not part of Mercosur, must “go to the consulate and get a visa and explain the reasons”, that is, procedures that the women who were detained for several hours at the airport had not done.
The boom in the arrival of pregnant Russian women is also causing concern given that it occurs in the framework of an investigation that began last December. Justice is investigating an agency for granting 70 permanent residences to Russian citizens.
