Belarusians who fled repression back home face new hurdles
New decree halts passport renewals abroad
TALLINN, Estonia — Andrei, a 29-year-old computer programmer who fled to Germany from Belarus two years ago amid a harsh crackdown on political dissent, is facing a serious dilemma.
His Belarusian passport has expired, along with his German residence permit. But Belarus has stopped renewing passports at its embassies abroad under a new decree by authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
“I have a terrible choice to make: become an illegal immigrant in Germany, or return to Belarus, where I will probably be arrested,” said Andrei, who asked to be identified only by his first name because he fears for his safety.
Authorities in Minsk, he told the Associated Press, “managed to turn the life of Belarusians into hell even here.”
An estimated 500,000 Belarusians fled to the West after Lukashenko was declared the winner of the 2020 election, which was widely seen as fraudulent. Many of them face having no valid documents after the Sept. 4 decree halted passport renewals.
Human Rights Watch has condemned what it called the “draconian” decision, labeling it retaliation against the regime's “critics-in-exile” by putting them at risk of “politically motivated prosecution if they have to return to Belarus to process their documents.”
Lithuania and Poland, which host the largest number of Belarusians, are trying a temporary fix by issuing them a oneyear “foreigner’s passport” that verifies their identity and gives them the right to travel. At least 24 such documents have been issued by Lithuania’s Migration Department.
Poland’s Foreign Ministry said it expects “further repression” in Belarus and wants to put the issue on the European Union’s agenda, but it’s unclear when that will happen.
In Estonia, Janek Mägi of the Interior Ministry said that Belarusians or other foreigners who cannot renew their documents in their home country are dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
Anitta Hipper, a spokesperson for home affairs for the European Commission, said those who can't get a passport from their country of origin should seek support from the one where they reside. She added the EC welcomed Lithuania's temporary solution and said it was monitoring the overall situation.
Germany, where Andrei lives, deals with immigrants' cases individually.
Germany's Interior Ministry said if a foreign national’s passport has expired, authorities can examine if it's “reasonable” for the person to get a new passport from their home country or whether Germany can issue replacement papers. The person must state why getting a new passport from their country would not be a reasonable expectation and must have residence status in Germany to get replacement papers.
Analysts believe Lukashenko wants to neutralize part of the opposition in the country of 9.5 million ahead of parliamentary elections in 2024 and a presidential election in 2025.