More than 5,000 pregnant Russian women have arrived in Argentina in recent months, 33 of them on one flight, writes the BBC. According to the national migration agency, all the latest arrivals were in their last weeks of pregnancy.

Pregnant women from Russia would go to Argentina to give birth in order to obtain Argentine citizenship for their children instead, the BBC notes.

Recently, the number of Russian women who went to Argentina to give birth has increased, the local press writes that this is also a consequence of the war in Ukraine.

“They didn’t come here as tourists”

Of the 33 women who arrived in the Argentine capital on a single flight on Thursday, three were detained due to “documentation problems”, joining three others who had arrived the day before, the head of the La Nacion migration news agency said. Florencia Carignano.

According to her, the women from Russia initially claimed that they were visiting Argentina as tourists. “In these cases, it was established that they did not come here as tourists. They themselves admitted it.”

She says these women want their children to have Argentine citizenship because it gives them more freedom than a Russian passport. “The problem is that they come to Argentina, register their children as Argentines and leave. Our passport is very secure worldwide. This allows them to enter 171 countries without visas,” said Carignano.

Having an Argentinian child also speeds up the process of obtaining citizenship for the parents. Currently, Russians can only travel to 87 countries without visas, and travel to many Western countries has become much more difficult for Russians since their country invaded Ukraine last February.

A lawyer for the three women arrested on Thursday and released in the meantime complained that they were imprisoned unfairly: “These women, who did not commit a crime, who did not break any law, were illegally deprived of their liberty.”

“Million Dollar Deal”

La Nacion attributes the sharp increase in the arrival of Russian citizens to both the war in Ukraine and “high-quality medicine in Argentina, where there are a variety of hospitals.”

A Russian-language website seen by the BBC offers various packages for mothers-to-be who want to give birth in Argentina. The site advertises services such as customized birth plans, airport transfers, Spanish lessons and discounts at “the best hospitals in Argentina’s capital”. Packages range from “economy class” at $5,000 to “first class” at $15,000. The website also says it promotes “ancestral tourism” and has offered migration support since 2015.

La Nacion reported on Saturday that Argentine police carried out the raids as part of an investigation into a “multimillion-dollar business” targeting an illegal network that allegedly supplied pregnant women in Russia and their partners with fake documents issued in record time to allow them to settle in Argentina. According to Argentine police, the group allegedly charged up to $35,000 for services.