Former political prisoners who were forcibly expelled from Belarus are having their passports annulled. One of the former political prisoners told Euroradio.
He said he visited the Interior Ministry’s website to check his status but saw that his passport was invalid. Other former political prisoners have encountered the same problem. So far, it does not affect those who were released this year.
A representative of the United Transitional Cabinet for Social Policy, Volha Zazulinskaya, stated that such tactics by the authorities are a continuation of repression. Annulment of a passport means difficulties with legalization, access to work, housing, and basic services. People without passports will also have to urgently obtain alternative travel documents.
«This once again shows that this is not about “humanity” or “gestures of goodwill” that the Lukashenka regime is trying to demonstrate. This is a continuation of repression — simply in another form and already beyond the country’s borders», she noted.
Zazulinskaya said the issue would be raised in negotiations, including with the American side, as well as with the authorities of Lithuania and Poland.
Passports were declared invalid for those who were given their documents upon being expelled from Belarus.
One of the former political prisoners expelled from Belarus in September last year told the human rights center “Viasna” that his passport and the passports of others in his group had been annulled.
«Those I keep in contact with from our group also checked. It turned out that everyone’s passports are invalid. I think this situation applies to absolutely everyone who left with documents, which is about 20–25 people», he said.
According to the former political prisoner, his passport was valid until 2031, and as recently as November 2025 he had used it and it was still valid.
Blogger Dzmitry Kazlou is among those whose passport was annulled. It had been valid until 2032. According to Kazlou, just a week ago he traveled to Warsaw and flew to Brussels using this passport. «My documents were checked, and there were no problems. Perhaps this does not affect European checks because Belarusian Interior Ministry databases are not consulted there», he said.
According to human rights defenders, passports have also been annulled for former political prisoners who were released in December 2025.
