Pregnant woman, drug courier and fake tourist: 22 Russians removed from flight to South America
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What did they do wrong?
Over the past weekend, 22 Russians were unable to fly to South American countries according to their purchased tickets. Argentina and Brazil in question are friendly to Russia, but our compatriots were not allowed on board planes flying from Dubai to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. No official reasons for the refusal were ever announced. We tried to find out the cause of the scandal.
The Russians were not allowed on board on Friday evening; usually in such cases (with the mutual desire of the parties to maintain good relations) the very next morning there is some sane explanation for the action. But not at this time. On Sunday afternoon, the Argentine and Brazilian embassies in Moscow are still shrugging, assuring that they “have not received any instructions.” And the Emirates airline, which did not allow Russians on the flights they had paid for, suggests contacting the Argentinean Migration Service, which, in turn, has been “clarifying” the reason for the third day now. And only at the Russian Embassy in Buenos Aires, and then only in an unofficial field, do they answer that “pregnant tourism” from Russia has completely “lay low” after the scandal in February of this year. Then, let us remind you, on one flight of an Ethiopian airline, 33 pregnant Russian women arrived in Buenos Aires.
“Here they constantly talk about false tourism on the Russian side,” our consulate explains, “and they monitor all pregnant women.” Someone is constantly not allowed in, but in smaller groups, so there is no such resonance. But they won’t just remove anyone. Since it happened, it means there is information that this is a drug courier or a false tourist.
– Are 22 pregnant again?!
– As far as we know, two simply have their documents in order, two more were flying to Brazil, leaving 18. There is not much for those who want to give birth in such a way as to receive Argentinean passports.
The trick is that Russian citizens arriving for up to 3 months do not need an Argentine visa, healthcare in the country is at an excellent level, and giving birth in a good local all-inclusive clinic costs $4 thousand (which is almost half as much as in Russian paid clinics of a similar level). Maternity tourism in Argentina is officially permitted, and the parents of the baby automatically receive Argentine citizenship, which gives them visa-free travel to 171 countries, including the entire EU, Great Britain and Japan, as well as benefits when requesting a long-term visa to the United States. According to our embassy in Argentina, in 2023, about 2.5 thousand of our compatriots moved to the country, half of whom joined their families in Argentina. The Argentine Migration Service has different data: 10.5 thousand Russians entered, 5.8 thousand of them gave birth, received Argentine passports and left for Europe.
“We here in Bayres (the local name of Buenos Aires. – Author) are not at all against Russians, even if they are pregnant,” says Miguel-Sebastian, manager of a maternity clinic popular among Russians. “But the authorities are offended that the Russians are simply using our country as a maternity hospital and a springboard into the EU. And they don’t buy tours to support the tourism industry, and they don’t move away permanently.
The Cariocas, the indigenous inhabitants of Rio, speak in much the same way: they are happy with the Russians, they have not heard any arguments against our visits to Brazil either in the official field or in private conversations.
And as a test, knowledgeable people advise observing the behavior of those removed from the flight: if these are ordinary tourists who did not have any secret plans, then the scandal will be long and detailed, with the names of the travel agencies and aggregators who sold the tickets, as usual in such cases. And those who have a fluffy stigma will let everything go on the brakes.
Newspaper headline:
Pregnant woman, drug courier and fake tourist
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