ERC calls to protect the Belarusian community in Spain against Lukashenko’s harassment

Eduardo González The Republican Parliamentary Group has presented a non-legislative motion in which the Government is urged to protect Belarusian citizens residing in Spain against the measures adopted by Aleksander Lukashenko's Government to limit their fundamental rights. The motion comes months after the Government assured, in response to a written parliamentary question from ERC, that it was “aware of the situation in which the Belarusian community abroad finds itself as a result of the legislative measures taken by the Belarusian authorities” and that it was “an issue that is also being studied at the European Union level, where approaches are being shared in relation to the issue”. In the new non-legislative motion, presented on 27 November by MP Francesc-Marc Álvaro i Vidal (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC) for debate in the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Republican Group insists that, since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Lukashenko's government has introduced a series of legislative and executive changes in order to limit the exercise of the fundamental rights of Belarusians. Among these changes, ERC mentions the deprivation of nationality of Belarusian citizens residing abroad who have been sentenced by a court for participating in activities declared "extremist", which represents "a true form of political persecution against dissent and undermining respect for freedom of expression". It also denounces the changes in the procedures and requirements for the renewal of documentation of its own citizens abroad, who are forced to travel to Belarusian territory to issue, exchange or renew their identity documents, because Belarusian institutions abroad have stopped carrying out these procedures. According to ERC, this new regulation represents “a new violation of human rights and international law – the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963 – with the aim of “persecuting dissidents”. These legislative changes have been “a real problem” for the 6,800 people of Belarusian nationality who, according to the INE, are registered in Spain, since “with the new regulations, when their residence accreditation documents expire, they are forced to travel to Belarus to renew their passport, with the risk to their personal safety that this entails given the current political climate in their country of origin”. The Republican Group also regrets that some Belarusian citizens “in possession of residence permits and with this problem” have been offered asylum application procedures. However, this formula “involves lengthy procedures” and is characterised by a low recognition rate, which is why other provisional alternatives have been proposed “and while the current situation and political climate in the area lasts”, such as the renewal of permits in Spain “despite having expired Belarusian documentation”. The text also recalls that “the Government, in a written response, stated that it was aware of the situation and indicated that it is also being analysed at the level of the European Union”. “However”, it warns, “a year later, the conditions of Belarusian citizens have not improved”. For all these reasons, the Non-Law Proposal urges the Government to make the administrative procedures relating to the renewal or issuance of residence permits for Belarusian citizens whose documentation issued by their country of origin has expired more flexible, “while the impossibility of renewing it without putting their personal integrity and security at risk persists”. It also calls for “expediting asylum application procedures for Belarusian citizens affected by these measures, prioritising the most urgent cases and ensuring appropriate developments based on the current political situation in Belarus”, and for “pushing for a common position within the EU framework regarding the situation of affected Belarusians and considering additional sanctions or diplomatic pressure measures addressing human rights violations in Belarus”.

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