Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “According to UN estimates for 2024, almost 800,000 Belarusians live outside the country – that is 8.7% of the population. Just imagine: every eleventh Belarusian now lives away from home.
Such a staggering number is the result of the Lukashenka regime’s policies. Families torn apart, children growing up without their friends from the courtyard, grandparents who see their grandchildren only through video calls. These are people who left because they had no other safe choice.
Returning home is impossible without an end to repression and the release of political prisoners, without a genuine national dialogue that leads to change. But everyone who is not at home today remains part of Belarus.
At times it may seem that our country is no longer what it once was, but it is precisely the Belarusian people who make our country strong, resilient, and dignified. And I am certain that our Homeland is waiting for us. And it will see us return”.
