Four students from northern California who travelled to Russia for a
leadership conference had their trip cut short and were ordered home
after Russian authorities said they had the wrong visas.
Liana Randazzo, 27, and Quygen Ngo, 24, of San Jose, and Jennifer
Phan, 21, and Sterling Winter, 18, of Chico, travelled to St Petersburg
on 31 October under a grant from an Oakland, California, non-profit to
attend a two-week leadership conference.
Immigration authorities and police arrived at the conference unexpectedly on Thursday and demanded to see their visas.
“This was a political statement the Russian government was trying to
make,” said Scott Winter, who said his son and the others were
interrogated and briefly detained while they were put on trial and fined
the equivalent of $110 each.
June Thompson, the executive director of the non-profit, the
California Association of Student Councils, said on Tuesday that Russian
immigration authorities deported the students, accusing them of having
obtained tourist visas when they should have had business visas.
Thompson said she understands that Russia is sensitive to concerns
that westerners may come to the country to engage in efforts to teach
the locals about political activism that could be seen as encouraging
opposition.
“If they get a sense of an American organisation or any foreign money
is coming in, then they have to register as a foreign agent,” Thompson
said.
US State Department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, confirmed the four were
“briefly detained in St Petersburg before being released” and they were
provided “all possible assistance”.
Thompson said the four handled the situation with extraordinary poise
and clear thinking. They were returning to the US on Tuesday afternoon
and not available for comment.
The conference was being led by the Association of Young Leaders, a
Russia-based association that teaches young people leadership skills.
Thompson says none of the students was harmed. They were expected to land at San Francisco international airport on Tuesday.
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/nov/11/four-students-california-deported-russia-political-visa-row
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