Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Chapter VI. Nationality. A plea for Reform. Paper read at a Committee on Nationality appointed by the International Law Association at 2 King's Bench Walk, Temple, London on February 24th 1922
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40
(a) He became a foreign subject without previously severing the
bond of Russian nationality:
(b) A naturalised Russian subject, obeying the laws of the country
to which he formerly belonged, takes advantage of the rights of his
previous nationality:
(c) A man evades military or naval service.
(d) Nomads are leaving Russian territory.
Although this Bill is an improvement on the former idea of
nationality, it is not satisfactory in that it deprives Russian individuals of
their nationality irrespective of the question whether they have
acquired another nationality, thus creating the possibility of a status of
„no nationality44 whatever. Bolshevik legislation has even aggravated
this position by pronouncing all Russian fugitives abroad who up to
March 1st, 1922, did not petition the Bolshevik authorities for a
national pass-port, to be deprived of their nationality. But Russians who
have fled abroad from Bolshevik oppression, rapine and murder will
certainly not do this, and thereby, over two million souls lose their
Russian citizenship without being naturalised in any other country, being
liable to be expelled as „undesirable aliens44 or refused admittance! Truly,
this is an appalling situation and a danger which assumes an especially
threatening shape at the present moment when scarcity of food-stuffs
and fear of socialistic propaganda induce many states to be very
cautious in dealing with immigrants and aliens. For instance, the
United States, which at one time was the haven for European emigrants,
has found it necessary to restrict immigration by most drastic
measures, and the British colonies have followed suit. It is therefore
altogether an impossible proposition that human beings should be
international outcasts — citizens of no State — without a national home,
without national protection, liable to affronts or outrage from anybody,
or to become a burden on any State. This case of Russian fugitives
from Russia is of course of an exceptional nature, and has even become
more difficult to deal with since the Congi ess of Genoa, when Bolshevik
Russia has, by the very fact of being admitted to an international
deliberation, gained a form of international recognition, which hitherto
had been denied, and which is tantamount to an official recognition de
jure, as an independent State, However, all European states who do
not believe in Bolshevik murder and rapine masquerading as a system
of government, will have to admit that the fugitives from Russia must
enjoy the right of asylum and for the sake of pure humanity, they
should not be handed over to their Bolshevik butchers. Under these
circumstances, the anomalous position of emigrants of no country, will
have to last until Russian affairs become more normal. In the
meanwhile, Russian emigrants being at least subditi temporarii, should be
allowed to enjoy certain rights in their personal status and should be
treated with regard to their passports and legal affairs, independently
of the Soviet Government on their own merits, as they cannot be
expected to apply to Soviet authorities. As a very temporary way out
of this international difficulty, the Foreign Office in each country where
Russian Bolshevik refugees happen to be living, should grant them
certificates of personal identity drawn up on the strenght of two or
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