Crackdown on ‘birth tourism’ as pregnant Russians flock to Argentina

[Still Waters]

Immigration authorities in Argentina are cracking down on Russian women who since the invasion of Ukraine have started travelling to Buenos Aires to give birth in order to gain Argentinian citizenship for their children.

The director of Argentina’s immigration office, Florencia Carignano, said on Friday that a judicial investigation has been launched into what she described as a lucrative business that promises Argentinian passports for the Russian parents.

Carignano spoke after 33 expecting women – all between 32 and 34 weeks into their pregnancies – arrived on the same flight late on Thursday. Several of the women were initially turned away at passport control but were eventually let into the country.

Some 10,500 pregnant Russians have arrived in the South American country in the past year, Carignano said.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/10/argentina-pregnant-russians-birth-tourism-crackdown