How Colonial Tactics Block Circassian Repatriation
Russia’s Obstruction of Indigenous Return Is Not Just History—It’s Ongoing
Adel Bashqawi
July 5, 2025
Background
More than 160 years after their forced expulsion, Circassians continue to face deliberate obstruction in their efforts to return to their ancestral homeland. Colonial-era tactics of suppression, denial, and bureaucratic entanglement persist—now cloaked in legal constraints, surveillance, and disinformation. This article examines how these mechanisms, rooted in imperial conquest, are not relics of the past nor accidental oversights. They are deliberate strategies meant to sever a people from their land—and to deny them the right of return guaranteed by history, humanity, and international law.
Introduction
The Russian-Circassian War, which concluded on May 21, 1864, brought catastrophic consequences to the Circassian nation. Many came to understand the conspiracies that surrounded this campaign of subjugation and extermination. Yet hypocrites and opportunists avoided accountability, downplayed atrocities, and underestimated the destabilizing effects of these crimes.
In truth, the occupying authorities—alongside local and regional agents—have long served as hostile stewards of a land from which they displaced its indigenous people. They engineered an environment that repels rather than welcomes Circassians. Even decades after the occupation began, those few who managed to return found conditions unsuitable for a dignified life in their ancestral homeland.
Visual Concepts and Symbolism
Broken Chain Across a Map of the Caucasus
- Represents interrupted connection and the enduring struggle to reconnect diaspora Circassians with their homeland.
- Chains dissolving into Circassian flag elements convey a symbolic rejection of occupation and defiance against imposed separation.
Passport With Barbed Wire Through It
- Depicts restrictions and bureaucratic barriers returnees face.
- Russian citizenship is difficult to obtain, and securing both international and local travel documents adds further layers of obstruction.
- Administrative surveillance and political control create a hostile and monitored existence for both new and established residents.
- Circassian script in the background emphasizes cultural identity under constraint.
Silhouettes Facing the Homeland from Across the Black Sea
- Evokes longing, endurance, and the hope of return.
- The sky above Circassia symbolizes memory and martyrdom—honoring those who died defending the land or during deportation.
- Reinforces the message: “Circassia Is Not Up for Debate: It’s Ours Then, Ours Now.”
- The silhouettes represent the tireless efforts of Circassians working to reclaim their homeland, even when the journey remains slow and uncertain.
Contrasting Panels: 19th-Century Deportation vs 21st-Century Bureaucratic Resistance
- Demonstrates the continuity of repression through changing tactics.
- Russia’s federalism is devoid of content—merely a façade for colonial domination.
- Circassia has been divided into pseudo-Russian administrative regions, non-contiguous and separated from each other and the diaspora.
- Despite these fractures, Circassians around the world continue to seek justice and demand restoration of their rightful place.
- Advances in communication and social media empower activists to unite across borders and advocate for repatriation in accordance with international law.
Obstacles to Living a Decent Life in the Homeland
- Returnees have faced threats from criminal gangs, extortionists, and deep-state affiliates, leading some to reconsider repatriation due to safety concerns.
- Language requirements—such as mandatory mastery of written and spoken Russian—serve as barriers to citizenship, marginalizing national languages in the process.
- Many returnees were forced to leave again due to psychological and economic pressure, combined with a concerted effort to portray the homeland as inhospitable.
- Conscription and coercion following Russia’s war on Ukraine have worsened the situation, forcing Circassians into conflicts unrelated to their people’s history or interests.
- Solidarity from the global community is essential in supporting Circassians’ right to freedom, repatriation, and self-determination, which remains integral to basic human rights and fundamental freedoms (https://press.un.org/en/2013/gashc4085.doc.htm).
Conclusion
The occupation of Circassia followed a calculated scenario of subjugation, destruction, and annexation. It aimed to sever the land from its people—regardless of time or dimensions. Those who returned after the Soviet Union’s collapse have faced relentless challenges in trying to live normal lives in their ancestral homeland.
