Residence Registration

As of the beginning of October of 1994 of 184 125 «migrants who arrived to the Territory to stay for ethnical reasons» 56 401 (30.6 per cent) persons had no residence permits. This figure was 13.1 per cent among the Russian speaking persons, 49.9 per cent among the Armenians, 94.8 per cent among the Turks . According to the UVD only 695 Turkish migrants who arrived during the last years have residence permits (this figure does not include approximately 2.5 thousand Meskhetians who has been living in the Territory since the middle of 1980’s).

99.9 per cent of the Meskhetian refugees have no residence registration in Krymsk Region, 96.8 per cent in Abinsk Region, 86.0 per cent in Apsheronsk Region, 86.0 per cent in Byelorechensk Region.¹

According to the data made available to us in the passport office of Krymsk Region GROVD from 1989 till 1994 18 023 migrants from the former USSR Republics applied to this organisation for permits to stay. 9327 people have been registered. The nationality ratio of the applicants and those who received residence permits during this period appears to be as follows:

TABLE 1 The nationality ratio of the applicants and those who received residence permits in Krymsk Region of Krasnodar Territory.

According to the ROVD’s PVS 4785 refugees arrived in Abinsk Region from 1989 till 1994, 3129 of them received residence permits. Their etnhical breakdown is as follows:

TABLE 2 The Refugees who Arrived in Abinsk Region from 1989 till 1994, Received Jobs and Residence Permits

According to the ROVD’s PVS 2562 people were granted permanent residence registration in Abinsk Region during 9 months of 1994, 2346 of them were the Russians and only two Turks–Meskhetians. Unfortunately, we could not find out how many people applied for residence permits during that time. We could not either obtain similar statistical data for Apsheronsk Region and Byelorechensk.

The group of the Turkish refugees who were granted residence permits comprises several categories:

— those who arrived to the Territory before August of 1989 and succeeded in legalising their stay (more than 170 persons, mainly in Apsheronsk and Byelorechensk Regions);

— those registered in housing of their relatives with permanent residence registration in the Territory;

— specialists registered due to the solicitation of some enterprises that needed their expertise;

— residents of the areas inhabited by a relatively small number of the Turks and characterised by a weaker pressure being exerted on the administration by radical nationalist organisations — Kushchevsky (20 per cent registered), Goryachiy Klyuch (registered are all 33 Turks who live there), Krasnoarmeysk (56 accordingly) Krylovskiy (72), Slavyansk (55);

— persons registered by waivers — some scores of retired persons, the Afghan wars veterans and persons who participated in the liquidation of the after-effects of the Chernobyl nuclear power station failure;

— those who managed to get registered in 1991–1993 in Abinsk Region during that short period when the regional authorities permitted to legalise the Turks–Meskhetians;

— those who obtained residence permits under the court decision.

The last three categories should be discussed more closely. On September 28, 1994, the Migration Control Commission of the KK Administration Chief granted waivers for a temporary one-year stay to 17 retired Turks–Meskhetians from Abinsk Region (Commission Protocol no.16). According to V.V.Remmler, the Chief of the UDNVM, this move was made on the initiative of his Department by way of an experiment — it was assumed that the UDNVM would try to solve the problem of issuing residence permits to all retired Meskhetians if this move did not bring about strong feelings on the part of the Cossacks [21.10.94]. It should be noted that the registration of the 17 pensioners was ordered by the territorial authorities after they had been denied permits in accordance with the decision of the Migration Control Commission of Abinsk Region Administration of 9.09.94. Later on, prior to July of 1995, the Territory Migration Control Commission granted temporary residence permits additionally to 29 Turkish pensioners (including 9 persons in Krymsk Region) according to the leaders of the Vatan, and 55 — according to V.V.Remmler [5.07.95]. These people may be granted permanent residence permit always supposing that they have registered their Russian citizenship. According to V.V.Ostorozhnyy, the Deputy Chief of the UDNVMRP, the process of issuing permanent residence permits to some retired Meskhetians initiated «for humanitarian reasons» was suspended in the summer of 1995 «because the reaction of the local population was not entirely positive» [30.11.95].

All 9 Turks registered in Krymsk Region before October of 1994 qualify for the preferential categories — either as «Chernobyl» or «Afghan» veterans.

On September 3, 1991, the Presidium of the Abinsk Regional Soviet authorised residence and house ownership registration for the Turks–Meskhetians, however several days later this decision was cancelled due to the Cossacks’ pressure. On January 21, 1993, the Decree of the Minor Council of Abinsk Region «On Residing on the Territory of the Region of the Citizens of the Turkish Nationality » once more revoked the prohibition to issue residence permits and to notarise house ownership. On February 19 this decree was cancelled by the session of the Regional Soviet following a series of protests and threats made by the Cossacks, however some families had succeeded to obtain residence permits and to legalise their house ownership.

Only a few scores of the Meskhetians legalised their house ownership under the court awards and thus secured their residence permits (unfortunately we failed to obtain even approximately consolidated data). In particular, five persons who attained residence permits in Krymsk Region before October of 1994 made it judicially. The number of such claims is growing progressively: for instance, in the 3rd quarter of 1995 43 people including 18 Turks (adult members of the families) were registered in Krymsk Region in pursuance of the court awards.² Yet the majority of the Meskhetians are not too anxious to resort to a judicial procedure because of the prevailing mistrust in the authorities, the apprehension of a negative outcome of the proceedings and the fear to bear heavy financial expenses connected with the collection of duty.

The majority of the refugees continue to live unregistered. The Meskhetians appealed to local authorities (at the level of village or settlement Soviets and at a regional level) for residence permits mainly in 1989–1992. Practically all of them were rejected. The Turks–Meskhetians note that the representatives of authorities practically never produce written refusals. Some situation are characterised as bluntly outrageous.³

The Meskhetian organisations activists tried to solve the problem of residence registration on the Territory level but failed attain positive results. According to the Vatan leaders S.Tamimov, S.Tedorov and T.Svanidze and Head of the Umid Society A.Bayrakhatov collective appeals of the Turks–Meskhetians who live in the Territory for residence permits were repeatedly submitted to the Union and the Russian authorities including appeals addressed in 1994 to: the President, the Prime Minister, the Chairman of the State Duma, the Chairman of the Council of the Federation, the Supreme Court, the Prosecutor General, the Minister of Internal Affairs.

Many Turks–Meskhetians did not vacate their registration when they were leaving Uzbekistan. We failed to find out how many of them still had Uzbekistan permanent residence entries in their passports. Probably it is not the majority but still a significant part of the refugees. In addition, it is hard to evaluate possible legal consequences thereof.⁴ The majority of the Turks–Meskhetians are sure that their registration in Uzbekistan has long been made invalid by local authorities there. According to Administration Chief of Nizhnebakanskiy stl. T.A.Shaprynskaya the settlement administration did send official requests to Uzbekistan in early 1994 in order to verify the annulment of the registration of several Meskhetians. These efforts appeared abortive — the answers were: «No information preserved».

A small part of the Turks–Meskhetians were granted permanent residence in other areas of Russia — mainly in Rostov, Kursk and Belgorod Regions. We failed to determine their number, too. Chief of the passport office of Apsheronsk Regional ROVD’s PVS S.N.Ivashchenko assumed that their share did not exceed 2–3 per cent of the adult Meskhetians, in other regions it should probably be more and continue to grow.

Being deprived of local residence registration people are divested of a lot of rights as specified below.

From the point of view of the territorial and regional level authorities the Turks–Meskhetians are «illegally immigrated citizens with authorised residence areas elsewhere in Russia».⁵ That is why the official position is based on the assumption that the Turks do not have the right for permanent residence in the Territory. Moreover, as many officials have admitted during our conversations the refusal to grant the Meskhetians a legal status and civil rights should stimulate their departure from the Territory as well as check the inflow of new migrants.

The grounds for the described attitude to the Turks–Meskhetians are disputable from the legal point of view. Decrees of the USSR Council of Ministers no.503 and the RSFSR Council of Ministers no.220 did not contain instructions to accommodate the Turks–Meskhetians on the territories of Central Russia Regions but merely referred to state-level arrangements for the receptions of migrants in these areas. But should such instructions have appeared in the above mentioned documents their character would have been obviously illegal since they would have implied compelling limitations on an individual’s choice of residence. Besides the overwhelming majority of the Turks were not adequately informed on the state-level measures for accommodating the migrants from Uzbekistan in Central Russia. In reality the intended measures for accommodating refugees were not duly implemented and even minimal acceptable living conditions were not created for the Turks–Meskhetians who arrived to the Non-Chernozem Zone. Consequently, the Meskhetians’ migration to Krasnodar Territory did not present a violation of law, nor did the Turks directly infringe the act of the executive authorities concerning forced migrants from Uzbekistan. The Meskhetian refugees violated «The Regulations on the Passport System of the USSR» yet this document is not a law but an act of executive authorities; besides the institution of mandatory residence registration was declared unconstitutional by the USSR Constitution Supervision Committee in 1991 and superseded by the RF Law on the Freedom of Movement and the RF Constitution. Decree no.1476 of the USSR Council of Ministers of 24.12.87 on limiting residence permits, in particular in Krymsk and Abinsk Region, was not published and therefore can not be considered a legal basis for the abridgement of rights of the forced migrants. The Turks–Meskhetians were leaving Uzbekistan when material threat to their lives and safety existed since the State had proved its inability and unwillingness to secure them adequately. The Meskhetians had to migrate on their own to those regions where climatic conditions were suitable for them and where they could get accommodations and find a job, in particular to Krasnodar Territory. It may be said that the Meskhetian refugees did it in the circumstances of dire necessity⁶ and therefore their actions contradictory to some regulations of executive authorities, especially those adopted during the existence of the USSR, can not constitute a basis for any sanctions to abridge their rights.

In real life authorities do have to face the reality — the fact that the people have lived in the Territory for a long time without permits to stay, that they actually possess immovable property (residential houses) and practically have no opportunities to go elsewhere in the foreseeable future. Before 1992 the fact of the Turks–Meskhetians’ permanent residence was silently admitted. The village Soviets compiled and updated the lists of the Turkish refugees in collaboration with the internal affairs departments. During the period of ticket-based distribution of some foodstuffs and goods (1990–1991) the Turks–Meskhetians in the long run made the local authorities include them too into the lists of residents entitled to acquire these coupons. At the same time the authorities regularly applied administrative sanctions (penalties) against the Turks–Meskhetians as «infringers of the passport regime» but scarcely instituted criminal proceedings.⁷

Following the increase of tension in the inter-ethnical relations in the autumn of 1991 a commission on social survey of the Turkic Meskhe|ian migrants in Krymsk Region was formed by Order of the KKSND Chairman no.156-p. Some time later the Minor Council prepared and adopted on February 12, 1992, Resolution no.97 «On Measures to Reduce Tension in the Inter-Ethnical Relations in Krymsk and Some Other Regions of the Territory». This document specifically addressed the situation of the Meskhetian Turks. It was recommended that the Minor Councils of town and regional Soviets of the people’s deputies develop a procedure for issuing certificates on the actual (permanent unregistered) domicile of the non-registered persons, the Internal Affairs Organs were ordered to register on a temporary basis the migrants’ personal vehicles; the enterprises and organisations were authorised to conclude labour contracts with the migrants without residence permits for a term not exceeding one year.

Subsequently, in the wake of the lay-outs of the Meskhetian workers from several enterprises in the Territory the administration chiefs in some regions where the Turks lived received circular letter no.06-04/58 of 14.04.94 signed the by Deputy Chief of the Territory Administration for Internal Policy and Public Relations R.Yu.Gusaruk that reaffirmed the validity of resolution no.97. At the end of the year the communities received similar circular letter no.06-04/205 of 23.11.94 signed by Deputy Chief of KK Administration A.M.Zhdanovskiy.

In the autumn of 1995 the UDNVMRP drew up a GAKK draft decree which iterated all principal provisions of Resolution no.97 of the Minor Council. At the end of November the Legal Department of KK Administration insisted on submitting this document as a bill to be approved by the Legislative Assembly of KK.⁸ Up till now Resolution no.97 of the Minor Council has been valid.

The adoption of Resolution no.97 made it possible to soften to some degree the acuity of the principal problems. The authorities confirmed by documents that they acknowledged the fact of permanent domicile of the Meskhetians in the Territory without legalising it. The resultant situation was intricate and ambiguous from the official point of view. The issuance of certificates on residency without registration is not stipulated by the current legislation and displays a parochial attitude. It does not either imply legal consequences or establish a legal status for the Turks to satisfy the law. In both circular letters the Deputy Chiefs of the Territory Administration called the Turks–Meskhetians «persons under the patronage of the Russian Federation» which is a legal novelty and void of positive contents. In the context of the current administrative (as well as criminal prior to December of 1991) legislation the Turks–Meskhetians qualify for the relevant sanctions as unregistered persons who are infringing the passport regime. However Resolution no.97 and the letters of the Deputy Chiefs of the Territory Administration of 14.04 and 23.11.94 actually mean, though indirectly and indistinctly, a withdrawal of one category of inhabitants from general rules although the Territory Administration is not authorised to do so. Besides, the fact of appending a specific status and a specific volume of rights to the people who belong to a certain ethnic group deserves a separate consideration for itself.

The acts of the Territory Administration and the Legislative Assembly of KK that make the migration regime even more tougher and introduce new sanctions for its infringement (including deportation) do not specify to what extent the newly established rules should apply to those who have already been living in the Territory rather than to the new-comers, that is, whether these documents are retroactive. In practice all officials equate permanent residence to permanent residence registration and therefore they think that the Turks–Meskhetians in principle qualify for these regulations, i.e. they need not count on obtaining permits to stay according to these documents. Since the Territory Administration has established few temporary exemptions for this category of persons the designed sanctions in respect to the Meskhetians are not applied (are applied selectively and partially to be more exact).

The permissive character of some provisions in Resolution no.97 allows the regional authorities to partially or temporarily ignore them. In particular, Krymsk Regional PVS completely discontinued the issuance of certificates on temporary registration to the Turks from March of 1995 and did it on its own initiative as V.V.Remmler assured us.

Consequently, Resolution no.97 of the SNDKK Minor Council leaves the Turks–Meskhetians disfranchised, it does not eliminate preconditions for administrative outrages against them; on the contrary, it creates new ones. The Meskhetians are acquiring a quasi legal status which in practice from time to time just suspends rather than excludes repressive sanctions for the violations of the executive authorities’ acts related to the residence registration regime. The exceptions instituted for the Turks-Meskhetians are conditional by nature and not always observed by the local authorities.

Generally the temporary registration certificates would not be either considered valid by the Militia officers outside the areas where they were issued and or safeguard their holders against paying penalties. Oftentimes, especially in the ports of Novorossiisk and Tuapse, the Militia officers would withdraw or destroy these certificates. During the passport control operations that were regularly conducted in the areas where the Turks–Meskhetians resided in 1993–1995 the Turks were fined in many communities for residing there without residence permits despite the fact that they had temporary registration certificates issued. The latter are not considered valid by the Cossack squads either (see for details below, in the sections where conflicts and relations with the authorities are described). The certificates that confirm actual residence status have per se the only function — they are a warranty for temporary registration of the refugees’ motor vehicles at the State Traffic Inspectorate.

Up till now the authorities have not made attempts to deport the Turks–Meskhetians as infringers of the passport regime although according to confidential sources suggestions to this effect were discussed at the Territory Administration level in 1995.

Citizenship

Practically all the officials interviewed by us were of the opinion that the Meskhetians who lived without residence permit were not the citizens of Russia. Nonetheless they found it hard to specify their current status and were inclined to consider the Turks stateless persons or «the citizens of the former USSR». It was assumed that upon the termination of the period defined by the RF Citizenship Law and the President’s decrees on registering citizenship through the registration procedure envisaged for the citizens of the former USSR the Turks–Meskhetians should be considered illegal foreigners residing on the territory of Russia.¹⁰ The regional administrations do nor consider the Turks–Meskhetians the citizens of the RF.

According to Decrees of the RF President no.386 of 10.04.92 and no.2299 of 27.12.93 the term «citizens of the former USSR» shall apply to persons who are not citizens of the states that constituted the former Soviet Union. Upon the termination of Article 18 of the Citizenship Law which envisages the opportunity to obtain the Russian citizenship through registration this category of persons staying on the territory of the RF shall change into the category of stateless persons.¹¹

However in accordance with the Citizenship Law the USSR citizens who had permanent residence on the territory of the RSFSR at the moment the Law was adopted shall be recognised as the citizens of the RF if they did not disclaim their Russian citizenship. The Meskhetian Turks whose overwhelming majority arrived in Russia in 1989–1990 and therefore did not infringe the current legislation entirely qualify for this provision. The law does not either mention residence registration elsewhere or link «permanent residence» notion with it. Moreover, the mandatory residence registration institution was formally revoked after the adoption of the Law on the Freedom of Movement and the RF Constitution. «Residence registration» is not mentioned further in above named decrees of the President no.386 and 2299, in Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs no.330 of 30.06.94 «On the Organisation of Operations of the Internal Affairs Organs in Implementing the Legislation on Citizenship of the Russian Federation».

In practice the most significant for the Turks–Meskhetians is the recognition of their formal right for citizenship by the authorities rather then the right itself. Yet the authorities would equate the notions of permanent residence and residence registration.

Only few Meskhetian refugees personally appealed to the authorities for the Russian citizenship. It was confirmed by the representatives of the MSKK in Krymsk and Apsheronsk Regions as well as by the officers of the ROVD’s PVS in Abinsk and Apsheronsk Regions. Passport loose inserts certifying the Russian citizenship were issued only to some of the Turks who had been registered in the Territory earlier. According to our interviews the overwhelming majority contacted the authorities only for residence permits. Besides, the Turks started to display their concern over the citizenship matters only by the end of 1994. In October of 1994 the majority of those interviewed admitted that they were not fully aware of the contents of the Law on the Russian Citizenship. Furthermore, practically none of them was aware of the existence and the activities of the Commission on Citizenship at the President of the RF. The Meskhetians informed us that the appeals to the Federal Authorities concerning the problem of obtaining citizenship were made only by the leaders of the Vatan upon whom the common refugees relied. In the collective appeals the Vatan forwarded to the Russian Federal Authorities the problems of citizenship were normally not mentioned.

From the formal point of view it is hard to adequately assess the practice of registering citizenship of persons without permits to stay by the local organs of internal affairs since none of common refugees or the leaders of the Turkish Community have received by now according to the data available any formal written responses which could be a documentary confirmation of the official approach. In practice the administration and the PVS officers act on the principle that the notions «permanent residence» and «residence registration available» are totally convertible but they state it just orally and decline from delivering written refusals which could be contested by the applicants. On June 29, 1995, Deputy Chief of Byelorechensk Administration V.F.Shkitin told M.Makhmedov that the issue of granting the Russian citizenship to the Turkish refugees «was out of the question».¹² On July 5, 1995, the Citizenship Inspector of Apsheronsk Regional PVS S.V.Bessarab admitted that she had been orally instructed at the KK PVS that the citizenship may be granted only on the basis of residence registration. In the responses of the Territory Administration representatives to the requests by the Vatan organisation of May 1995 the issue of linking the civil status with residence registration was eluded [the texts are available at the authors of the report]. As it was found out during a telephone conversation with Manager of the Vatan Society S.Tedorov on August 12, 1995, the first written response on citizenship received in the middle of July from the Apsheronsk PVS did not contain a direct rejection but referred to a pre-requisition to have the matter endorsed at higher levels.In May of 1995 Chairman of Anapa regional organisation of the Vatan Society Yunus Mukhtasimov delivered to the PVS Chief of Anapa ROVD applications written by the leaders of 16 Turkish families resident in the region (Gostagayevskaya st.) appealing for citizenship registration. A response in the oral form was given only in the middle of November and resolved itself into the statement that the decision on the issue under consideration required «an instruction from above».

To our opinion the problem of citizenship should be treated as an extremely important one. Both the Law on Citizenship and the amendments to it as well as the President’s Decrees on citizenship and ordinances have no references to residence registration. It offers local executive authorities certain freedom in interpreting it and permits them to deny citizenship to applicants. The authorities are treating the Meskhetians as persons without the Russian citizenship and apply to them restrictive measures designed to be applied to the migrants from the CIS. To the contrary, the by-laws that define the rights of the Russian citizens (for example, the RF Laws «On the Right of the Citizens of the Russian Federation to Free Movement, the Choice of Place to Stay and Reside within the Russian Federation» and Decree no.713 of the RF Government of 17.07.95 which enacts the mechanism to implement this Law) may not be applied to the Turks–Meskhetians resident in Krasnodar Territory. The official disavowal of the citizenship of the Meskhetians without residence registration can make them unprotected in the foreseeable future in the event of «ethnical cleanups» and even forced deportation from the territory of the RF.

Refugee Status

Before the breakdown of the USSR the very existence of refugees in the country was not formally recognised and this term was not used in the official documents. Prior to the creation of the Federal Migration Service in 1992 the Territory employed a temporary procedure of registering and processing the forced migrants. The Turks–Meskhetians did not get a similar temporary status: it was granted only to migrants from certain regions — their list in which neither Uzbekistan or Kirghizia were present was endorsed by the Committee on Migration and International Relations of the Supreme Soviet of the RF and iterated by GAKK Decree no.400 of 31.12.92. The leaders of the Vatan contacted the departments on labour and social matters of the territorial and regional administrations involved in registration of persons who had to migrate from the places they had lived in previously but the answers were negative.¹³

After the Federal Migration Service and its regional departments had been created the situation for the Turks did not change. The only instruction of the FMS of 27.08.93 made in compliance with the Resolution of the RF Supreme Soviet Committee allowed to treat the migrants from Uzbekistan as forced migrants yet this decision was not retroactive. It has been confirmed by the Meskhetians themselves. According to S.Tamimov when the Vatan contacted the FMS late in 1993 it received the answer stating that the Migration Service dealt only with those migrants who arrived in Russia after the Service was formed, that is, after 1992 [30.10.94]. [29.10.94]. T.Svanidze asserted that during a meeting with Т.М. Regent in Krasnodar she explained that only those migrants from Uzbekistan may be considered refugees who had left it after August of 1993 [29.10.94].

The RF Laws «On Refugees» and «On Forced Migrants» adopted in February of 1993 as well as the related by-laws are not retroactive. Decree of the Territory Administration Chief no.222 authorises the MSKK to grant the refugee or the forced migrant status only to those persons whose relatives have been permanently residing in the Territory for more than 5 years (a spouse, parents, children, full brothers and sisters).¹⁴ According to KK Law «On The Procedure for the Registration of Stay and Residence in Krasnodar Territory» «the residential qualification for the relatives of potential refugees shall be increased to 10 years». The Migration Service deals with two categories of «forced migrants» — those who were already registered in the Territory (shall apply for the status personally) and those who have immediate relatives in whose place they can be registered provided that the sanitary standards are observed (the applications shall be filed by their relatives).

Hence, the Turks–Meskhetians can not obtain the status of a forced migrant or a refugee for they do not have a local residence registration while the laws and the ordinances related to forced migrants are not retroactive.

Personal Documents and the Certificates of the Civil Statute

Till February of 1995 none of the Turks–Meskhetians who attained majority (16 years of age) were issued a passport. According to the instructions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs the employees of the passport offices shall not be not authorised to issue blank passports without a residence registration entry.¹⁵ Young people who were not issued passports automatically became infringers of «The Regulations on the Passport System» and were deprived practically of all rights including the right to work.

Until the beginning of 1994 theoretically there existed two solutions in this situation. Some Meskhetians found an opportunity to obtain the Soviet passports for their children at a place of their former residence in Uzbekistan. We failed to collect any evident indications as to how frequently this method was employed but in reality it appeared to be accessible for few. The growing travel expenses and the toughening political regime in Uzbekistan would make such opportunity even more illusive. The second possibility consisted in obtaining a passport and residence permit after returning from the army when the Meskhetians were called to military service in the Territory (before early 1994 in Apsheronsk Region). Those who returned from active duty should be registered and accordingly given a passport in compliance with the duty certificates issued at the place of service. The Military Commissariats appealed to the regional and town administrations for issuing residence permits to the Turks–Meskhetians who had served in the army but in most cases the replies were negative.¹⁸

In February of 1995 Chief of KK UVD A.G.Suprunov decided to issue passports without residence permits to adult refugees.¹⁹ At present time such passports have been issued in Krymsk Region — to those who were 16 years of age in the end of 1994 and in 1995, while in other regions — to those who were 16 years of age in the period between 1989 and 1995. In addition, starting from February of 1995 unregistered persons got their new photographs attached in the passports at the age of 25 and 45 since passports without these photos were considered invalid. According to the people we interviewed in November of 1995 this process progressed very slowly in Krymsk Region, reception of applications for passports or for new photos was periodically suspended and many people had to live without passports or with invalid passports.

Until the beginning of 1994 theoretically there existed two solutions in this situation. Some Meskhetians found an opportunity to obtain the Soviet passports for their children at a place of their former residence in Uzbekistan. We failed to collect any evident indications as to how frequently this method was employed but in reality it appeared to be accessible for few. The growing travel expenses and the toughening political regime in Uzbekistan would make such opportunity even more illusive. The second possibility consisted in obtaining a passport and residence permit after returning from the army when the Meskhetians were called to military service in the Territory (before early 1994 in Apsheronsk Region). Those who returned from active duty should be registered and accordingly given a passport in compliance with the duty certificates issued at the place of service. The Military Commissariats appealed to the regional and town administrations for issuing residence permits to the Turks–Meskhetians who had served in the army but in most cases the replies were negative.¹⁸

In February of 1995 Chief of KK UVD A.G.Suprunov decided to issue passports without residence permits to adult refugees.¹⁹ At present time such passports have been issued in Krymsk Region — to those who were 16 years of age in the end of 1994 and in 1995, while in other regions — to those who were 16 years of age in the period between 1989 and 1995. In addition, starting from February of 1995 unregistered persons got their new photographs attached in the passports at the age of 25 and 45 since passports without these photos were considered invalid. According to the people we interviewed in November of 1995 this process progressed very slowly in Krymsk Region, reception of applications for passports or for new photos was periodically suspended and many people had to live without passports or with invalid passports.

In the event a Turk–Meskhetian loses the passport they would not replace it. In this case the PVS and passport bureau officers would send people to where they had had their passports issued originally. Some have succeeded to recover their passports in Uzbekistan but at the present time this opportunity have been lost for good since Uzbekistan introduced its new national passports.²⁰

Persons without residence registration shall not receive foreign passports. At the end of 1993 — early 1994 four families without registration left for Turkey. The Territory Administration helped them to get passports without residence registration by waivers.²¹

Marriages between people without residence permits would not be registered officially. The ZAGS departments also deny marriage licenses to those people who do have Russian residence permits but failed to legalise their house ownership. If either of those who wed has a local residence registration while the partner has no residence permit or has been registered in one of the former Union Republics their marriage license shall be subject to a personal authorisation of the regional (town) administration chief. This procedure was enacted by GAKK Decree no.172 of 28.12.91 «On Some Aspects of Marriage Registration in Krasnodar Territory» and confirmed by Decree no.389 of 24.08.92 «On the Restriction of Registration and Marriage Dissolution for some Categories of Citizens in Krasnodar Territory». The representatives of the administration and the ZAGS departments are justifying this kind of prohibitions and restrictions by their intention to hinder fictitious marriages. Unfortunately we failed to find out whether those who were entitled to apply for consent from the chief of Apsheronsk Region Administration on the registration of marriage would try to make it. No such approaches were made in Byelorechensk.²² We did not discover any instances of marriages between the registered and unregistered persons in other regions of KK either.

In compliance with Articles 49 and 149 of «The Marriage and Family Code» the children whose married parents for the reason mentioned above are considered formally unregistered shall get the surname of their mother. In the birth certificate of a child the father is mentioned as follows: his actual name and patronymic are entered in the appropriate line followed by the surname of the child’s mother (not changed in connection with the disavowal of the marriage).²³