Belarus in Exile
Belarusians are fleeing to neighbouring countries
A year after mass protests rattled Belarus and its dictator, pro-democracy activists are fleeing to Europe. With a crackdown against democracy in full swing, this could be the end of Belarus’ revolution.
Since the contested victory of President Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus last year, hundreds of protestors have been imprisoned, and thousands have been fleeing to Poland and Lithuania, crossing into the EU illegally: ‘I feel like I have to be composed and careful, but I’m not scared. I’m not about to stick my head in the sand. No good will come out of the fact that I’ll land in jail here, or in the ground, or into a wheelchair‘, says Dzimitry, an activist fleeing to Lithuania. Authorities in Lithuania now say they are facing a migrant crisis on their borders: ‘I cannot condone. But I cannot in any way blame them, because, you know, when you’re faced with this kind of fury of this mad regime, you will want to get out one way or the other‘, says Deputy Foreign Minister Mantas Adomenas. For Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya, the leader of the Belarus opposition in exile, calls on the international community to help those caught in the crackdown: ‘We have to put pressure on the regime inside the country, outside the country to start this dialogue to release political prisoners.’ Authorities in Lithuania now say they are facing a migrant crisis on their borders: ‘I cannot condone. But can not in any way blame them, because, you know, when you’re faced with this kind of fury of this mad regime, you will want to get out one way or the other‘, says Deputy Foreign Minister Mantas Adomenas.For Svetlana Tsikhanaouskaya, the leader of the Belarus opposition in exile, calls on the international community to help those caught in the crackdown: ‘We have to put pressure on the regime inside the country, outside the country to start this dialog to release political prisoners’.
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