"Somewhere people are causing trouble." Passport Center reacted to the case of a person facing problems due to the New Belarus passport

New Belarus Passport. Photo: Press service of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's Office

The initiative Partyzanka reported on the precedent on February 25. A Belarusian citizen in Poland's national passport had expired, and he could not obtain a new one due to security concerns. In such cases, one can receive a Polish travel document for foreigners (or the so-called Geneva passport — for individuals with refugee status). However, when applying for a new residence permit, the Belarusian indicated not one of these documents, but the New Belarus passport. Although this is currently a symbolic document issued by democratic forces, Polish officials (likely due to lack of awareness) perceived it as proof of interaction with Belarusian state bodies. And this is prohibited under international protection.

As a result, a procedure for deprivation of international protection was initiated, an investigation into travel was launched, and the case was re-analyzed. The Belarusian has already submitted written explanations to the officials regarding the situation.

"We do not recommend, but we cannot forbid"

The Deputy Director of the Belarusian Passport Center believes that after review, the case will be resolved in favor of the Belarusian.

— Naturally, if a person brings a passport, submits it to the migration service, and does not explain where this document came from, the migration service might think that it is a passport issued by Lukashenka's regime. Then the logical question arises: on what grounds are you asking for [international] protection?

The passport is genuinely of good quality, meets all ICAO standards, it contains biometric data of a Belarusian citizen, an electronic signature, fingerprints, a chip that transmits data via NFC, and so on. That is, externally, it does not differ from any other national passport. But, as far as I understand, the Polish migration service will sort this out, and after an explanation of where this passport came from, the administrative case will be closed.

Currently, these documents are unofficially accepted by the migration service of Ukraine because most [Belarusian] volunteers do not have any documents at all, except for military IDs. And we are grateful to the migration service for this. I emphasize: there is no official recognition from Ukraine. But people on the ground accept them.

We officially do not recommend to everyone that national passports of Belarus (the interviewee refers to New Belarus passports. — Note by Most) be used [as identity documents], and this is stated on the BPC website belarus-passport.com.

But we cannot forbid our citizens, who are placed in difficult conditions, from using them, because people are in an extremely complex situation, and it will worsen every year.

From 2020 to today, Belarusians have received over 1.08 million residence permits only in EU countries, not including Ukraine, Georgia, and other countries. Different countries have different procedures. Some issue travel documents and foreigner passports, some do not. In some, an expired passport is a reason for not renewing a residence permit and for deportation. Many Belarusians are forced to apply for international protection due to expired passports. Lukashenka's regime is deliberately making us stateless. And the passport project of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's Office and the United Transitional Cabinet (UTC) is organically necessary in our most challenging conditions.

— But do you inform people that this is not an official document today, that it is not recognized?

— A person signs at least twice — when registering on the platform and when later coming to receive the passport — that this document is not a travel document and an identification document. I don't know how else the owners of these passports need to [be informed of this]. Therefore, we do our work thoroughly, precisely, safely. Yes, there are people who risk encountering problems. We know that people have gotten married [with this passport], registered their cars, crossed borders, even obtained visas. Well, we warned them that this could be a problem. Somewhere they are causing trouble, somewhere they are exceeding the permitted limits.

But it should be noted that when criminal articles are mentioned, they are related to the forgery of official documents, alteration of data. And the Belarusian Passport Center is an official organization, founded by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's Office and the UTC, and issues its own documents.

At the same time, data from the blue passport, including the personal code, are transferred to our passport. Moreover, from the experience of other governments in exile that issue passports (such as the government of Ichkeria), not a single criminal case has been initiated. We maintain contact with them and exchange experience.

The more owners of these passports there are, the faster the process of their recognition will proceed. More and more Belarusians are left without passports, and with each year, each month, the problem will escalate.

The fact that the Polish migration service will sort out the situation and stop the process will also be our small national victory. We have the right to our documents, and, however difficult it may be for us today, we must move together towards the goal of recognizing this right.

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