Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Today, the Lukashenka regime abandoned consular assistance to Belarusians, thereby distancing itself from yet another sphere of life where it should be caring for its citizens. Belarusians will now lose access to many important services – for example, it will no longer be possible to get new passports at embassies and consulates. This means that those of you who cannot safely return to Belarus risk being left without the document that is essential for living and working abroad legally.
We are consulting with the countries that host most Belarusians to solve the issues at the legislative and executive levels. Already this month we will hold consultations with the European Commission, and I will also raise this issue before the European Parliament and during the UN General Assembly.
Poland and Lithuania have already started issuing the so-called foreigner’s passport as a travel document for Belarusians whose passports have expired or run out of pages, but who are allowed to reside there permanently or temporarily on different grounds. We are aware of problems with legalizing the stay of children of Belarusian citizens born outside Belarus after 2020 and are working to solve them.
We are preparing to start issuing the new Belarusian passports and working to increase their recognition. This requires a lot of time and effort, and we will need the help of all Belarusians living abroad. We will need to secure the support of governments in countries where Belarusians live. We hope the passport will help to solve a number of problems related to the legalization of stay.
Dear Belarusians, please do not panic or take rash actions. Even if your passport has expired, it is not worth returning to your homeland if you are at risk of persecution. No document in the world is worth your freedom. It is way more important to take care of yourself and your safety. After all, it is the people who are the greatest asset of Belarus”.
