Birth Tourism: Pregnant Russians Fleeing To Argentina In Desperate Bid To Give Birth & Secure Citizenship
Feb. 13 2023, Published 11:01 a.m. ET
Thousands of pregnant Russian women are reportedly fleeing to Argentina in a desperate bid to give birth and secure Argentinian citizenship for themselves and their newborn children, RadarOnline.com has learned.
In a shocking phenomenon dubbed “birth tourism,” upwards of 6,000 pregnant Russians have reportedly entered Argentina in the last three months to give birth.
According to Daily Star, the phenomenon began when Russians learned that anyone born on the South American country’s soil is automatically granted citizenship.
Once a child gains Argentinian citizenship, it is also reportedly easier for the child’s parents to gain citizenship in the country as well.
“The quantity really is very big each day, only last night in the last Ethiopian Airlines flight, 33 Russian citizens entered with pregnancies of approximately 32, 33, 34 weeks,” Florencia Carignano, Argentina’s national director for migration, revealed over the weekend.
“In the last three months, 5,819 women who were about to give birth entered [Argentina],” she added.
Carignano also revealed that approximately 21, 757 Russians have entered Argentina in 2023 alone – with nearly 10,500 of those Russians being pregnant women within weeks of giving birth.
But while Argentina doesn’t have a problem with Russians who want to move to the country to raise their children, Argentina’s authorities are reportedly worried there is “some sort of criminal organization” behind the recent influx of pregnant Russians arriving in the country.
"The judiciary is currently investigating whether there is some sort of criminal organization bringing Russian women to Argentina," one insider confirmed.
"We don’t have any problem with people from any nationality who want to come live in Argentina, who want to raise their kids here, invest in Argentina,” Carignano added. “The problem is that these people come, leave and don’t return to Argentina and they leave with a passport.”
“These people surely came to have children in Argentina."
At least six of the pregnant Russian women were denied entry to Argentina this past week after allegedly falsely claiming to be tourists, while it was also revealed three Russian spies recently detained in Slovenia were citizens of Argentina.
Christian Rubila, a lawyer representing one of the women denied entry to the South American country this week, argued the women arriving to Argentina are refugees “escaping from the [Russo-Ukrainian] war.”
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“In Vladimir Putin’s regime, not agreeing to the war is enough for one to go to jail or for members of her family to be sent to the frontline of battle,” Rubila argued.
Argentina’s immigration authorities also revealed two Russian women more than 30 weeks pregnant arrived in Buenos Aires last week unaccompanied, with hardly any money, and without return tickets back to Russia.
