Until 2021, the Government of the Russian Federation was only discussing the issue of limiting the travel abroad of law enforcement officers, but today there is already a decree imposing a ban on the departure of police officers and civil servants from the country. Currently, such restrictions are becoming especially relevant due to the imposition of sanctions by the West against Russia. Traveling abroad for police officers in 2021 becomes possible only when choosing foreign countries from the list of permitted ones, which is constantly changing due to the unstable political situation in the world.
The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, has approved a list of countries where employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are allowed to travel in 2021. The list lists 13 states that are considered safe for police officers. Among them: Vietnam, Cuba, China, Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and South Ossetia. According to the approved list, civil servants can also go on vacation. I would like to recall the fact that Russian police officers were prohibited from going on vacation in the spring of 2021 due to the international political situation.
Reasons for imposing a ban on police officers traveling abroad
The directive of the Ministry of Defense does not contain a categorical ban on internal affairs officers from leaving Russia, but rather narrows the list of foreign countries where they are allowed to travel. The Foreign Office also warned that the safety of police officers in some countries may be at risk. The leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other law enforcement agencies accepted the warning as an order and confiscated the foreign passports of the employees. The main reasons for introducing a ban on holidays abroad are considered to be:
- Attempts to protect law enforcement officers from provocations that are possible on the territory of countries that have entered into an extradition agreement with the United States of America.
- Protection of state secrets. In this case, the ban on leaving the country applies only to employees who have access to classified information. Permission to travel abroad is issued upon individual request, and the authorized person of the department is guided by the degree of secrecy of the documents with which the employee was familiarized.
- Ensuring the safety of police officers themselves. We are talking about countries in whose territory Russian legislation does not apply.
Is there a law restricting travel outside Russia for employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs?
The bill prohibiting employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation from traveling abroad was withdrawn (was not adopted), but at the level of recommendations it is proposed to refrain from traveling abroad. That is, there is no strict ban on traveling abroad at the moment. Establishing restrictions on travel outside of Russia is the prerogative of the leadership of territorial divisions of law enforcement agencies: in some places there were no changes regarding the holidays of police officers abroad, but in others the recommendations of the Ministry of Defense were accepted as an order. As for employees who have access to secret information of high degrees of secrecy, the ban applies to them on the basis of the current one. The issue of issuing permission to travel abroad is considered on an individual basis and only if there are compelling reasons for temporarily lifting the ban on crossing Russian borders. A similar procedure for restricting exit from Russia applies to civilians who have entered into an agreement with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, providing for the imposition of a temporary ban on exit. The latest proposal from State Duma deputies to consider a bill on imposing a temporary ban on travel abroad for police officers and representatives of “certain positions in the Ministry of Internal Affairs” was received in March 2021. One of the points of the document is to study the issue of excluding from the ranks of the Ministry of Internal Affairs holders of residence permits and other documents that are the basis for residence in the territory of foreign states. After a preliminary study of the proposal, the government ordered the development of a list of positions that would be subject to the ban on leaving Russia. No conceptual grounds were found for rejecting the bill. If the law is adopted, the labor contract of employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will be supplemented with a corresponding article, which implies the imposition of a temporary restriction on foreign trips by law enforcement officers.
What are the established levels of data secrecy?
Information that is not subject to disclosure by law enforcement officers who have been cleared to state secrets is conventionally divided into three levels:
- Information classified as “Secret” is available to law enforcement officials and is intended for official use.
- Information classified as “Top Secret” can be obtained by employees engaged in operational investigative work and by operational employees of the penal system.
- Data classified as “Of Special Importance” is provided exclusively to heads of departments and department heads.
The right to travel outside the country is limited if a law enforcement officer had access to information classified as “Top Secret” and “Of Special Importance.” He can be considered restricted from traveling abroad for no more than 5 years or for a shorter period if this is stipulated in the employment agreement or contract.
The ban can be extended by decision of the interdepartmental commission for up to 10 years.
For whom entry is closed
The ban applies to representatives of a number of special departments (Ministry of Internal Affairs, FSB, Ministry of Defense, FSIN, SVR, Ministry of Emergency Situations, FSSP and others). It is recorded in Article 15 of Federal Law No. 114 of 08/15/96. Service in these structures provides access to information that is strictly confidential, and its disclosure could cause serious damage to national interests.
Restrictions on freedom of movement are imposed not only on conscripts, but also on contract military personnel. The issue of the possibility of civilian personnel traveling abroad in the RF Ministry of Defense is decided on a purely individual basis. Heads of departments have the right to establish or lift a ban on visiting foreign countries by local acts.
When joining the department, its future representative signs the employment contract and the non-disclosure agreement of special information. The latter indicates the time period during which restrictive measures are in effect. As a rule, the ban on employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs traveling abroad is lifted after 5 years from the date when the person last viewed secret papers.
The issue is resolved taking into account the level of data confidentiality. If the information held by the employee has the third level of secrecy, then the period of non-travel abroad can be reduced (Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 870 of September 4, 1995). In some cases, on the initiative of the Interdepartmental Commission, it can be increased, but not by more than 10 years. The decision can be appealed in court.
Which countries are police officers allowed to travel to?
In the event that a police officer did not have access to state secrets, the ban on him traveling abroad will be advisory in nature. There are certain situations in which a recommendation can be equated to an order, and vice versa - sometimes an exception can be made in relation to a law enforcement officer. The most stringent restrictions apply to NATO countries and foreign countries that have entered into an extradition treaty with the United States. The easiest way to travel abroad is if the purpose of the trip is to visit a country friendly to Russia.
A complete list of countries that police officers are not recommended to visit has not yet been published. However, there is a list of foreign countries where prosecutors cannot go – it is contained in the order of the Prosecutor General’s Office dated April 24. 2021 No. 201 “On restricting travel abroad for prosecutors of bodies and institutions of the prosecutor’s office of the Russian Federation”: there are 166 such countries in total. There is reason to believe that the list of “prohibited” states for police officers will be similar.
There are only 32 countries where police officers are allowed to travel abroad. Their list can be found in the appendix to the order of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation dated August 21. 2021 No. 360 “List of foreign countries to which employees of the Main Directorate and subordinate units can go on tourist trips, taking into account the current international situation.”
List of countries authorized to travel to employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2018
At the end of 2021, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, signed an order specifying the list of countries where employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs can go on vacation. In 2021, it includes only 13 states:
- Abkhazia;
- Azerbaijan;
- Armenia;
- Belarus;
- Vietnam;
- Kazakhstan;
- Kyrgyzstan;
- China;
- Cuba;
- Tajikistan;
- Turkmenistan;
- Uzbekistan;
- South Ossetia.
The vast majority of countries - 8 out of 13 - are former republics of the USSR.
But you can go to almost every one of them, if only on an excursion. The opportunity to swim is only in Azerbaijan. And also in Abkhazia, also part of the post-Soviet territory.
It will be difficult for employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, like other Russian citizens, to get into 4 out of 8 post-Soviet states in 2021. The situation is most difficult with Turkmenistan - this country is becoming increasingly closed from the world, a visa is required to enter there, and it is difficult to obtain one. It is not easy to enter Kazakhstan (unless a Russian policeman travels there on his own from adjacent regions of Russia), Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan - Russian tour operators simply do not organize tours to these countries or the list of offers is too small. Flights to Uzbekistan are too expensive.
Photo: pixabay.com
What documents are required to obtain permission to travel abroad?
In many divisions of law enforcement agencies, foreign passports were confiscated from employees. When hired, new police officers submit this document to the personnel department or the Main Directorate for Migration Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs within 5 days after starting work. The procedure for obtaining permission to enter a country from the list of permitted states does not seem difficult. But to achieve the opportunity to travel abroad to one of the prohibited foreign countries, police officers must go through a cumbersome process of obtaining permission. For this you will need:
- Submit a report to the manager according to the established format, indicating the country where the need to go has arisen. You need to tell the reason why you are planning a trip and describe the route in detail. A valid reason for filing a petition may be:
- the need for urgent treatment abroad;
departure for inheritance issues;
- resolving issues of alienation of property that is registered on the territory of a foreign state;
- visiting seriously ill relatives or the grave of a deceased family member.
- Wait for a written response from the supervisor, put a date and signature on the paper as confirmation that the police officer was familiar with the decision. If the certificate states that the application to travel abroad has been approved, it will be useful for getting your foreign passport back.
- Submit the received permit (certificate) to the personnel department or department of the Main Directorate for Migration Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, if the document was submitted there, and receive a foreign passport.
- Return your passport immediately upon returning from a trip abroad.
- Provide the command with a detailed report on the trip.
The maximum possible period of stay of a police officer outside Russia is 15 days. If a law enforcement officer needs more time to resolve issues that have arisen, this must also be written about in the report - in such a situation, his immediate superior will have to consult with senior management. Failure to comply with the above requirements will result in a fine and dismissal of the police officer for traveling abroad.
