{"id":197274,"date":"2026-07-25T23:11:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T20:11:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/197274\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T23:14:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T20:14:48","slug":"pacobut-amnesty-international-ask-polish-pm-to-ensure-legal-status-for-exiled-belarusians-in-poland","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/197274\/","title":{"rendered":"Pa\u010dobut,\u00a0Amnesty International ask\u00a0Polish PM\u00a0to\u00a0ensure legal status for\u00a0exiled Belarusians"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

July 25,\u00a0Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong>\u00a0Belarusian journalist and\u00a0prominentPolish minority activist Andrej Pa\u010dobut (Andrzej Pochobut)and\u00a0Anna B\u0142aszak-Banasiak, director of Amnesty International\u00a0in Poland, have petitioned Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to take measures to facilitate the legalization of exiled Belarusians in Poland.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their\u00a0petition<\/a>,\u00a0Pa\u010dobut, a former political prisoner who received Poland\u2019s highest state award, the Order of the White Eagle, after his release this past April, and\u00a0B\u0142aszak-Banasiak\u00a0say that life became \u201cextremely difficult\u201d for Belarusians in Poland\u00a0in 2023\u00a0after\u00a0Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka\u00a0issued an edict prohibiting citizens from obtaining passports through foreign-based diplomatic missions. They warn that\u00a0\u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s opponents may face arrest if they return to Belarus to get new passports.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The petitioners point out that there is no path to legalization for Belarusian children born in Poland. The entire family has to visit Belarus in order to obtain passports for them, which \u201ccreates the threat of statelessness.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pa\u010dobut and B\u0142aszak-Banasiak call on Polish authorities to allow the validity period of the Polish travel document for foreigners to be extended by at least three years, to ensure that Polish-born children of Belarusians can obtain identity documents, and to authorize the use of foreigner\u2019s travel document for identification purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the petition, the problem is currently solved through temporary directives issued by Poland\u2019s interior minister every six months, often at the last moment, which \u201ccreates uncertainty and destabilizes the life of Belarusians living in Poland thus violating human rights.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor Belarusians who love democracy, freedom, and their homeland, the lack of documents means being sentenced to a life in limbo,” because “when a passport expires, their life stops,” the petition says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authors describe the \u201c143,000 Belarusians who have found shelter in Poland\u201d as hard workers and honest taxpayers who are better integrated into Polish society than other ethnic minorities, with 89 percent of them\u00a0claiming\u00a0at least a basic knowledge of the Polish language. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nearly 120,000 Belarusians worked in Poland last year, statisticians say<\/h3>\n
June 9, Pozirk. As many as 118,900 citizens of Belarus were officially working in Poland as of December 31, 2025, 1.2 percent more than a year before and 0.6 percent less than a month before, according to Statistics Poland.\u00a0 Belarusians …<\/div>\n \n