A repatriate from Russia appealed in court the denial of an Abkhaz passport.

Repatriate Albert Ivanov was forced to go to court after being repeatedly denied an Abkhaz passport—a document he, as an Abaza, is entitled to receive according to the law and the Constitution of Abkhazia.

The Sukhumi City Court, presided over by Judge Sariya Mikanba, began hearing the administrative case brought by repatriate Albert Ivanov, an Abaza, against the Sukhumi Passport Department.

Alberd Ivanov's ancestors ended up in Kabarda, where they were registered as Kabardins instead of Abaza, the Aiashara Telegram channel reported today.

About eight years ago, Albert came to Abkhazia and decided to stay. He later started a family with three children. He used his Russian passport in everyday life. But he always wanted to restore the nationality of his ancestors, who were Abaza.

In 2023, Albert Ivanov decided to restore his family's original nationality. To do so, he filed a lawsuit in Kabardino-Balkaria, presenting a certificate from the Abaza Center for the Study of the Culture and History of the Peoples of the Caucasus. This document, which was based, among other things, on numerous scholarly works by Abkhaz and Abaza scholars, proved that the Ivanov family name belongs to the Abkhaz-Abaza clan of Iuan-Ivanba.

According to the Russian court's decision, the nationality field in Albert Ivanov's father's documents was amended to read "Abaza" instead of "Kabardian." Based on this decision, a new birth certificate was issued by the Russian Civil Registry Office. He brought all these documents to Abkhazia and presented them to the State Repatriation Committee. Having received repatriate status, Ivanov submitted the necessary documents to the Sukhum passport office to obtain an Abkhaz passport.

However, two months later, he was informed that unless he presented a Russian court decision, he would not receive an Abkhaz passport. Ivanov later submitted the requested Russian court decision, but was told by Sukhum passport office staff that he would still not receive the passport because Russian court decisions are not recognized in Abkhazia.

All refusals were verbal. Only after Ivanov sought legal assistance did the Sukhum passport office issue him a written notice, which included additional requirements: his military ID, his father's military ID, and his father's birth certificate. In the same written notice, he was informed that, allegedly in accordance with the law and the Ministry of Internal Affairs' instructions regulating the issuance of passports, a corresponding request had been sent to establish his nationality.

The number of repatriates from the North Caucasus who have been denied Abkhazia's national passport by the Abkhazia Ministry of Internal Affairs' passport department has already exceeded 80. This practice, according to various sources, has been in place for approximately two years, according to a Telegram channel.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs' passport department was notified of the date and location of the court hearing, but despite this, the department's representative failed to appear in court.

"Caucasian Knot" also wrote that in 2024, elders demanded that laws contrary to Abkhazia's interests not be passed. Parliamentarians should not pass laws that cause division in society and contribute to the erosion of the Abkhaz ethnic group, stated members of the council of elders. They proposed developing a program for the repatriation of compatriots and banning the issuance of Abkhazian citizenship and residence permits to foreigners.