Since the first Chechen War, thousands of people have entered Ukraine from the Republic of Chechnya, Russian Federation, to seek refuge from the destruction of their land. They have also made their way into various EU nations. It is estimated that the First Chechen War cost from 35,000 to 120,000 human lives and that up to 50% of the population of Chechnya was displaced. Another added issue to migration at the time was that in 1999, at the beginning of the second Chechen War, there was a halt of issuing foreign passports.
In the early 2000s, which is nearly 20 years ago, one of the leading topics that one would be able to see when they looked at international news was related to Chechnya. They were a republic caught in the struggle after the collapse of the Soviet Union and were known primarily for the suffering that they endured under the Russian Military.
The increased politicisation of migration impacts disadvantaged migrants who live their lives in regions on the outskirts of the European Union and elsewhere in the world.
Although Chechens have also emigrated to countries such as Turkey or the United States, more than 100,000 war refugees have moved to the European Union. Poland was the first European Union member state that many refugees entered due to its proximity in to Russia. Official statistics (UdSC, 2006, 2008, 2010) reveal that between 2003 and 2008, more than 47,500 migrants claimed asylum in Poland. More than 42,300 claimants were Russian passport holders.
In 2014, around a dozen Chechen Asylum seekers were returned to Russia and have subsequently been known to have died at the hands of the Russian Authorities.
As part of the creation of the supranational asylum policy, the number of Chechens deported to Poland from other European countries has grown dramatically.
(Lukasiewicz, 2017).
In total, some 8,000-10,000 Chechen refugees have settled in Poland as per Joanna Fomina who is a journalist and student Polish Academy of Sciences Institute of Philosophy and Sociology
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