After the outbreak of the Russian war in Ukraine, the Czech Republic imposed restrictions on Belarusian and Russian students: even those who have studied in the country for more than a year must not receive education in professions critically important to the Czech Republic, such as technicians. To circumvent the restrictions, the Belarusian diaspora has agreed with universities on a verification procedure, which must reveal the student’s position on issues of war, protests, etc. Even their relatives are checked to see if they work for the regime or the military. DW has figured out how this happens.

“The main problems for Belarusian students abroad are in the Czech Republic,” says Maksim Zafransky, international secretary of the Belarusian Students’ Association (ZBS). country, which means that the restrictions apply even to Belarusian residents of the European Union.

“The Czech Republic is the only EU country that has interpreted the sanctions, the ban on technical assistance to Belarus, through education,” explains Maxim, who says that the restrictions apply both to those who pay for studies and to those who receive a scholarship. that, at the same time, there are repressed Belarusian students in the Czech Republic, for whom it is important to remain in the EU country – “for them there is no way back home, where repression and imprisonment await”.

Diaspora verification

The representative of the Belarusian diaspora on the Committee of National Minorities in Prague, Christina Shiyanok, says that before the 2020 events, about 800 Belarusian students studied in the country: “Not all study in the very critical colleges that were subject to restrictions, but the problem It affected hundreds of people.” Some students were forced to write motivational letters – condemning the war, the regime, etc., others had to transfer from a “closed” specialty for them to another, “allowed”.

“Universities have different approaches. Some universities have decided to give students the opportunity to protect themselves through a motivation letter,” says Kristina. “And somewhere the deans themselves have opposed motivation letters, they think: if a student writes as he does not support the regime or fights against it, actively opposes the war, he will sign his own sentence if this letter falls into the wrong hands. “.

To help students who would have to explain once again what happened to them in Belarus and prove their innocence to the regime, representatives of the Belarusian diaspora suggested that universities certify young people by writing letters of recommendation. However, not only those coming from programs for the repressed, but also those with whom the diaspora was unfamiliar, requested recommendations. Therefore, I had to resort to the verification procedure.

“There is a war going on, you have to take the security issue into account. It is very easy to lose confidence in the eyes of the Czech authorities and university presidents by automatically distributing reputation letters to everyone. We chose an approach that consists of pre-screening students and immediate family members for links with the regime, repressive bodies and, most importantly – with the Belarusian military sphere, which is now participating in the aggression against Ukraine”, explains Christina.

BYPOL started checking

The representative of the association of former security officers BYPOL, who entered the Tikhanovskaya office, Alexander Azarov, says that the verification procedure is carried out only if the student himself agrees. “We check all the databases we have (we have analysts who did that in the Ministry of Internal Affairs) and we provide information to the diaspora – and they decide what to do with it,” he says.

The first list, which BYPOL received for verification, included 11 people, the second – 40. And according to Azarov, there were also several students whose parents are active employees in Belarus, KGB employees, Belarusian companies associated with the Lukashenka family.

“It is not a fact that a child is involved in repression or thinks like his parents. A selective approach is needed,” he said. A spokesperson for BYPOL says that some students explain that their parents are divorced and that their father is in the police is none of their business. But there are those who do not understand what the problem is – “it serves and serves, but what is it?”.

Parents – staff means there will be no recommendations?

“Verification is not sufficient for any conclusion. The fact that a parent is associated with certain authorities in Belarus is no reason not to give a recommendation,” says Kristina Shiyanok. “In such cases, we meet in person with the person who has turned to us, and make a decision in the course of the conversation. Of course, it’s unpleasant, because it’s an invasion of personal space, but here we are on limited terms.

Valery Kovalevsky

Either we generally refuse assistance or we consciously accept it, taking into account, in addition to moral and ethical issues, the security issues of the Czech Republic.

Whether anyone was denied a recommendation and how many, Christina doesn’t say.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s adviser Valery Kovalevsky also emphasizes that relatives in state structures are not some kind of criterion for making a decision. “We certainly don’t make this division”, he guarantees.

But what about the candidates?

While final year students are collecting recommendations, Belarusian applicants cannot obtain student visas to come to the Czech Republic to study.

“Not all of them are in Belarus, some of them went to Poland and Lithuania in some cases – as family members of other repressed Belarusians, and now they face the so-called visa ban,” says Kristina Shiyanok. The Czech Republic only grants visas to Belarusians who “were activists, opposed or suffered under the system. But today’s candidates in 2020 were between 15 and 16 years old. They might be interested in what was happening, but they weren’t.” present at these events due to their age.”

However, the diaspora hopes that a positive decision will be taken on the issue of several dozen applicants who this year were enrolled in Czech universities but cannot apply for a visa.

“I think this is discrimination against Belarusian students on the basis of nationality,” says Maxim Zafransky. this problem with the Czech Students Union, which supports us. These bans – both on visas and on admission of Belarusian students – are absurd, and we hope that the situation will change.”