A Reuters report said on Thursday that Some of the hundreds of foreigners who have volunteered to fight for Ukraine in the face of Russia‘s invasion may suffer legal ramifications back home. According to Reuters and other media outlets reporting, volunteers from countries like Canada, Georgia, India, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States are taking part.
 CAN AMERICANS ACT AS VOLUNTEERS IN THEIR COUNTRIES?
The State Department’s website states that US citizens are not prohibited from serving in the military of another nation. It’s possible to voluntarily give up citizenship if you serve in the military or fight against a nation that is at peace with the United States, but Supreme Court precedent suggests that overseas military duty alone cannot be used to deprive Americans of their citizenship.
As a result of the Neutrality Act, enforcing war against states at peace with the United States is punishable by up to three years in jail. Gambia’s attempted coup in 2014 was prosecuted under a legislation that could theoretically be used to volunteer military action against Russia. In recent times, David Malet, a professor of history at American University in Washington, D.C., says it has seldom been implemented.
“It’s hard for me to envision Americans being imprisoned for travelling to Ukraine without connections to domestic terrorism,” Malet added.
VOLUNTEERS FROM AUSTRALIA, BRITAIN, AND INDIA.
According to a UK Foreign Office travel advise that was last revised on Wednesday, British citizens who go to Ukraine to fight may face prosecution upon their return. A spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office refused to answer questions about whether costs might be levied on UK volunteers when contacted by Reuters.
Since the Foreign Enlistment Act was last modified in 1870, citizens of the United Kingdom have been barred from enlisting in foreign military against nations at peace with the United Kingdom. While originally expressing support for citizen volunteers in Ukraine, Foreign Secretary William Hague subsequently issued a warning against visiting to the country.
Foreign civilian fighters’ legal status is a source of “uncertainty,” according to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who spoke to reporters earlier this month.
A request for feedback from the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs about the legitimacy of Indian individuals joining the Ukrainian troops was not answered. Allowing Indians to take part in another country’s war would “lead to the charge that the Indian government is sponsoring terrorism in other countries,” the ministry told the Delhi High Court in 2015.
Has the green light been given by any countries?
Leaders in Germany, Denmark, and Latvia have indicated their countries would not punish their people who join the conflict. “It’s an individual choice,” Canada’s defence minister, Anita Anand, has remarked.
IS IT POSSIBLE THAT FOREIGN FIGHTERS MAY BE STOPPED?
A professor at the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Daphné Richemond-Barak, says international law mandates Russian troops to treat foreign combatants as prisoners of war, no matter their country. So Russian forces are obligated to provide the abducted volunteers with food, drink, and medical care.
According to Russian news agency TASS, a Russian Defence Ministry official declared last week that Western “mercenaries” fighting for Ukraine would not be considered as legitimate fighters and would risk criminal prosecution or worse.
WHAT ARE THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF VOLUNTEERS IN THE WAR?
Unless they are charged with war crimes or equivalent offences, volunteers will not be prosecuted in their home countries for their individual activities during the conflict since they will be fighting as soldiers of the Ukrainian army.
Published By :Â VATSAL KOTHA
Edited By : KRITIKA KASHYAP
