Authorities have begun sending emigrated Russians letters demanding information about their children’s education...

Authorities have begun sending emigrated Russians letters demanding that they provide information about their children’s education. Some are being threatened with referral to the juvenile affairs commission

Moscow authorities have begun sending letters to parents of children living abroad, asking them to provide information about their children’s education. Several families who received such a letter told Verstka about it.

The notices began arriving in Russians’ email inboxes in October. The letters say that the Moscow Department of Education has provided information about a child who is registered in the capital but is not studying at an educational institution in the city. Parents are asked to confirm or deny the fact of the child’s education “as soon as possible.”

The authors of the letters explain their request by citing the requirements of Part 4 of Article 44 of the Federal Law on Education. It states, among other things, that parents of minors are obliged to “ensure that their children receive general education.”

“If no information is received about where your child is studying, information will be sent to the Commission for Juvenile Affairs and the Protection of Their Rights for consideration of this matter,” one of the letters says.

A Verstka source who received a similar letter said that her nine-year-old daughter has lived abroad since she was five and started school in Dubai. The family comes to Russia every year to visit relatives. According to the woman, they had informed Russian authorities that they live in the UAE.

After receiving the notice, she contacted the number listed in the letter and explained that her family was no longer registered either in Moscow or in Russia. After that, the woman said, no further questions were raised.

In another case, the letter was sent to the parents of a 13-year-old boy whose family left the country in 2015 and now lives in Iceland. The child has also never studied in Russia.

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