Resolution 2499 (2023)1Provisional version

Addressing the specific challenges faced by the Belarusians in exile

Parliamentary Assembly

1. The Parliamentary Assembly is deeply concerned by the fate of hundreds of thousands of Belarusianswho are in exile because they had no other choice than to flee the repressive regime of AliaksandrLukashenka. If any doubts remained about the nature of the latter, the rigged presidential election of 9 August2020 haS shown its true character, turning Belarus into an open-air prison where human rights have beenreduced to nothing.

2. The Assembly recalls Resolution 2433 (2022) “Consequences of the Russian Federation's continuedaggression against Ukraine: role and response of the Council of Europe” in which it expressed its resolve “tointensify its engagement with Belarusian ... civil society, human rights defenders, independent journalists,academia and democratic forces respecting the values and principles of the Organisation”.

3. The Assembly is impressed by the resilience, courage and determination of the Belarusians in exilewho are fighting for democracy to prevail in their country. It is conscious that a new obstacle for them hasemerged on 24 February 2022 with the large-scale aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine towhich the Lukashenka regime actively participates. It regrets that the more time that passes since 9 August2020, the day Lukashenka in reality lost the elections, the further away in time the return of the Belarusianswho find themselves in exile becomes.

4. The Assembly can only be impressed by the work and initiatives of the Office of SviatlanaTsikhanouskaya and the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus, which aim at providing their compatriots withthe services the regime deliberately withholds.

5. Recognising that the Belarusian people cannot be equated with the Lukashenka regime, the Assemblyconsiders that Belarusians in exile should not be treated in a discriminatory manner because of theparticipation of that regime in the war against Ukraine.

6. The Assembly emphasises that while most of the Belarusians who have been forced to leave theircountry in the context of the 2020 presidential election have only one wish: to return to a democratic Belarus,it is important that their host countries do their utmost to ensure that they can stay legally and are welcomed indignified conditions respectful of their fundamental rights, as guaranteed by the European Convention onHuman Rights (ETS No. 5) and other relevant Council of Europe instruments, pending the establishment of ademocratic regime in Belarus.

7. The Assembly deeply deplores that the Lukashenka regime is continuing to exercise pressure on thosewho have left the country, notably by refusing to provide consular services to its citizens and by threateningtheir security.

8. While many European countries have opened their borders to Belarusians, the Assembly notes that thecloser those countries find themselves to Belarus, the greater is their understanding of the situation of thosefleeing.

1. Assembly debate on 20 June 2023 (16th sitting) (see Doc. 15783, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugeesand Displaced Persons, rapporteur: Mr Paul Galles). Text adopted by the Assembly on 20 June 2023 (16th sitting).

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Resolutions

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