Snowden to stay in airport transit zone or move to shelter – FMS source

Edward Snowden file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW. July 16, 2013) Former CIA employee Edward Snowden who filed his request for temporary refuge in Russia on Tuesday will be staying in the transit zone of the Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport or move to a shelter for asylum seekers within the next few days, head of the Russian Federal Migration Service’s Public Council Vladimir Volokh told Interfax.

“Stage one is beginning to identify his legal status. Snowden will have to stay either in the Sheremetyevo transit zone or at a shelter for refugees and displaced persons where the Federal Migration Service can accommodate him,” he said.

There will be no restrictions on Snowden’s movement inside Russia if he is granted temporary refuge, said Volokh, former deputy head of the Federal Migration Service.

“However, he will be compelled to abide by the rules of registration at the place of his stay,” he said.

Refugee status will be considered for Snowden first, Volokh said. Snowden may receive temporary asylum if he “decides there are no grounds for seeking refugee status” and declines this option, he added.

Volokh told Interfax on Monday that a decision on refugee status could be made within three to six months if Snowden filed a written request to the Federal Migration Service.

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