To Be Recognized as a Compatriot, One Should have to Know Only One Republic Language but Be Ready to Study Russian on Return, Khatazhukov Says

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Apr. 2 – Duma deputy Konstantin Zatulin is again pushing draft legislation that would require anyone seeking status as a compatriot to know Russian well before returning, a violation of the Russian constitution and a standard few non-Russians seeking to return are likely to meet, Valery Khatazhukhov says.
    The president of the Kabardino-Balkar Regional Human Rights Center says that it is clear that Zatulin wants to block the return to Russia of groups like the Circassians by insisting that they must be fluent in Russian before they can return (zapravakbr.ru/index.php/30-uncategorised/1962-yazykovoj-paradoks-repatriatsii-problemy-realizatsii-zakonoproekta-gospodina-zatulina).
    The Duma deputy first sought this change in Russian law three years ago, but his proposal was voted down, at least in part because other deputies recognized that it would violate the constitution which gives equal rights to speakers of Russian and those who know one of the official languages of the non-Russian republics.
    And others were persuaded to oppose Zatulin’s proposal then because of the success that Circassians returning from Kosovo in 1998 and from Syria in 2011 who quickly learned Russian in special courses set up for them at that time and now have fully integrated into Russian society as a result.
    Khatazhukhov stresses that he favors such Russian-language courses for any Circassians who do return but insists they should not be blocked from returning to one of the three non-Russian republics where they speak one of the state languages if they are then willing to learn Russian.
    How much support Zatulin gets, the Kabardino-Balkar rights activist says, will be a measure of just how far the Kremlin has tilted toward Russian nationalists like Zatulin and against its own constitution and the rights of groups like the Circassians who want to return but don’t know Russian now although they are willing to learn that language once they are back.