SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia—Near the exit door of immigration at the Viru Viru International Airport, a crowd of Bolivian and Ukrainian supporters gathered during a March 13 demonstration to celebrate the arrival of two refugees deported the day prior by immigration officials.
Ukrainian citizens Mykhailo and Oksana Karpenko arrived at the same port on March 12 and Bolivian immigration authorities detained the couple for roughly 15 hours, despite having the correct paperwork, including a formal letter of invitation from a Ukrainian expatriate and Bolivian citizen who’s lived in the country for 45 years.
