Ivana Bacik
Question:100. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs his plans to provide aid to support Belarusians in exile. [52236/23]
View answerTuesday, 28 November 2023
Questions (100, 101)
Ivana Bacik
Question:101. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will report on his representations to the European Union in respect of the need to assist Belarusians in exile whose passports have expired; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52237/23]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 100 and 101 together.
Three years after the fraudulent elections in Belarus and with repression only intensifying, it is vital we maintain our support for democratic Belarus and those forced to live in exile. It is estimated that 200,000 to 500,000 Belarusians have been forced to flee their country as a result of the regime crackdown.
In the wake of the 7th September 2023 presidential decree by the Lukashenko regime to ban the issuance and extension of Belarusian travel documents abroad, we continue to work closely with our European partners, to monitor the situation and coordinate our response. Belarusian civil society has described this decree as a retaliatory move against pro-democracy activists in exile as it requires them to return and risk arrest in order to renew their travel documents.
Along with our EU partners, Ireland has sought to support Belarus’ democratic forces and wider civil society actors to mitigate the impact of the violence and repression of the Lukashenko regime, and in planning for the future. Ireland welcomed the establishment of the Council of Europe Contact Group and EU Consultative Group with Belarusian democratic forces and civil society. These crucial platforms for dialogue will help shape our action in support of a free, sovereign, and democratic Belarus and maintain our connection and support for Belarusians in exile.
In November, Minister of State for European Affairs Peter Burke held a meeting with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, leader of the Belarusian democratic movement, who herself is in exile in Lithuania. At that meeting, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya expressed her appreciation for Ireland’s steadfast support. While in Vilnius, Minister Burke, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya and Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Survila hosted a seminar on Media Freedom in Belarus in association with the Belarusian Association of Journalists. The event heard from Belarus’ independent journalists and human rights defenders who had been forced into exile but whose important work continues to shine a light on the situation in Belarus, despite the regime’s efforts to keep it hidden.
Ireland is providing support for several Belarusian civil society projects that have been forced into exile by a repressive and authoritarian regime. This includes support to the Belarusian human rights NGO ‘Viasna’, which provides medical, psychological and humanitarian support to current and former political prisoners, support to the European Endowment for Democracy, and funding for independent Belarusian media. Ireland is also providing support to the International Accountability Platform for Belarus which is working to collecting evidence on gross human rights violations constituting crimes under international law allegedly committed by Belarusian authorities.
Ireland is committed to supporting Belarusian civil society and democratic forces in exile in order to support a democratic future for Belarus and its people.