Estonian authorities have deported a Chechen man who had sought asylum in the country back to Russia, despite claiming for months that his life would be in danger there.
The Chechen man, whose name was not publicly disclosed, was deported from Estonia on 20 March.
The news was reported by RFE/RL, which had cited Roza Dunaeva, a representative of the exiled government of Ichkeria abroad. The government claims to be a continuation of Ichkeria, a short-lived breakaway Chechen state that was crushed by Russia over two consecutive wars in the 1990s.
According to Dunaeva, the Chechen man was not given full legal representation and was not granted a meaningful chance to defend his case. The exact details of the proceedings, including the grounds on which the Estonian authorities rejected his request have not been made public.
In her comment, Dunaeva also said that the deportation was especially painful given Estonian’s own history resisting Russian domination, arguing that this should have made the country more sensitive to people fleeing prosecution from Russia.
Amnesty International had previously called on EU countries to halt suspend their deporation of North Caucasians to Russia, claiming that the asylum seekers are facing torture and forced mobilisation.
A report by the German government stated that Chechens remain the dominant ethnic group among the applicants for asylum from Russia. According to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees of Germany (BAMF) successful applications declined from 21.1% to 3.9% by November 2025.
The report described the human rights situation in Russia as having ‘deteriorated drastically’ and that in Chechnya, crimes committed on behalf of Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov and his regime enjoyed a broad impunity.
Gunef Yedic
