While the National Government reported that some 350 Russian pregnant women traveled and gave birth in the country during the last months, the Buenos Aires Minister of Health Nicholas Kreplak explained in radio statements the situation in the Buenos Aires province and ruled out that any of them have given birth in a Buenos Aires hospital.
Kreplak was cautious and reflected: “Argentina has a health system that guarantees rights, quality and accessibility. It worries me when the look has to do with the ‘abused State’, it seems to me that it is a very small look,” he said. Along these lines, he pointed out that “It is not an issue about the demand in the health system, but about Human Rightsand reported that “There is no record of Russian pregnant women in the Buenos Aires system”.
To close the issue that was a central part of the agenda during the last week, he emphasized: “When the profit in health access begins, this becomes merchandise. That makes us go backwards as a society; we must think of health as a right”.
THE CONTROVERSY
The National Director of Migrations, Florence Carignanosaid this weekend that “given the significant increase in the income of Russian citizens in recent months” “350 with advanced pregnancy” were interviewed, from which it emerged that an “organization offers them a package in exchange for a large sum of birth tourism with the Argentine passport”, after which “data” were provided to the federal courts.
“From the permanent analysis carried out by Migration of migratory movements, we detected a significant increase in the entry of Russian citizens in recent months. That is why we decided to investigate and interviewed 350 of them who were in advanced pregnancy,” Carignano said in his twitter account.
And he continued: “In the interviews we discovered that this organization offers them, in exchange for a large sum, a birth tourism package with the Argentine passport as the main reason for the trip. We have already contributed the
data to federal justice to continue taking care of our passport”.
He stressed that “Argentina has a history and legislation that embrace migrants who choose to live in the country in search of a better future,” but that “this does not endorse mafia organizations profiting offering with gadgets to obtain our passport to people who do not want to reside in our country”.
“Argentines have achieved, incorporating technology, procedures and work, have one of the safest passports in the world that allows entry without a visa to 173 countries and obtain it for 10 years in the US. This is a privilege that we must take care of and a responsibility with those countries,” said the head of Migrations, an agency under the Ministry of the Interior.
According to the official, there are six Russian citizens who came alone, “all in the 33rd or 34th week of pregnancy, and all said they came to do tourism”. “When we see that they don’t have a return ticket, that they don’t know how to explain where they are going to do tourism, something that is rare for a 34-week pregnant woman, we begin to suspect that they are not coming to do tourism,” she said.
Immigration authorities should be governed with “a procedure for the resolution of cases in the event of a well-founded suspicion of a false tourist”as it works “In all countries”said Carignano in dialogue with the TN channel.
“In this case it was detected that it was false tourism, because they themselves admitted that they come to have their children” in Argentina, he added. In this regard, the official explained that “it is not a crime” to come to the country to have a child, but people “of non-Mercosur nationality” must “go to the consulate and get a visa and explain the reasons” in order to do so. And Russian citizens who were inadmitted between Thursday and Friday did not present such required papers.
