Belarus dictator weaponizes passports in new attack on exiled opposition

[littlemissmartypants]

September 6, 2023

Belarus dictator weaponizes passports in new attack on exiled opposition

By Hanna Liubakova

Belarusian diplomatic missions will no longer issue new passports to Belarusian citizens residing abroad and will not renew expired personal documents, according to a decree signed by Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka on September 4. Instead, Belarusian citizens living abroad will be required to return to Belarus in order to access passport services. The new regulations will also make it difficult for Belarusians residing outside the country to sell real estate or other assets.

These changes are being interpreted as a fresh escalation in Lukashenka’s campaign against Belarusians who left the country following the mass pro-democracy protests of 2020. Thousands fled Belarus in late 2020 and sought refuge elsewhere in Europe after suffering arrest or facing criminal charges for their involvement in a nationwide protest movement that aimed to overturn a rigged presidential election and bring 26 years of increasingly dictatorial rule to an end. Many of the current exile community also experienced human rights abuses while in custody including torture.

The cancellation of consular services now places exiled Belarusians in a precarious position. Unless they return to Belarus to renew expired passports, they could find themselves without their primary identification document and unable to access a wide range of essential services in their current countries of residence. However, returning to Belarus could result in arrest and prosecution in connection with their earlier involvement in anti-regime protects.

The leader of Belarus’s democratic forces, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, has urged exiled Belarusians not to return to Belarus if they face the risk of persecution. She has promised to raise the issue with officials in countries where Belarusians reside, while also seeking to secure international recognition for an alternative passport initiative launched recently by the country’s opposition movement in exile.

Snip...more:
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/belarus-dictator-weaponizes-passports-in-new-attack-on-exiled-opposition/

[hildegaard28]

1. This is

Exactly the reason why people cross borders illegally to claim asylum. How are you supposed to legally enter another country for safety when your government has cancelled your passport? This is something that needs to be thrown in Republican faces when they complain about migrants illegally entering the country to seek asylum.