Hello!
My name is Marina. I am worried about my relatives who stayed in Belarus, so I have to make the collection anonymous. But I will try to tell my story in detail to explain why I am turning to you for help.
In 2020, I was outraged by the results of the presidential election and the suppression of peaceful protests. To make my position known, my colleagues and I formed an independent trade union at BMZ (Belarus Metallurgical Plant — BYSOL note), where I was working at the time. After that I started to be invited for talks with a KGB officer who held a high position at the plant. He warned me that if I continued to be “active” it would have consequences for me.
At the end of 2022, directly from my workplace, police officers took me to the department, where they drew up a report under administrative article 19.11 (19.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Belarus — distribution, production, storage, transportation of information products containing calls to extremist activity), seized my phone as an “instrument of crime” and sent me to a temporary detention center. I spent the first 24 hours in the punishment cell. The lights were on all night and every few hours they woke me up, asking for my data and date of birth. Then there was a court that found me guilty of distributing “extremist” materials and sentenced me to 13 days of arrest.
A month after my release, a district police officer came to me, checked my new cell phone, wrote down the number, gave me some papers to sign and left. Then I was summoned to the prosecutor's office, who gave me a paper to sign, warning me that if I was seen somewhere, I would be prosecuted. I signed that document, hoping to go back to my normal life if I kept quiet and behaved quietly.
However, I was fired from the enterprise where I had worked for more than 8 years for absenteeism, due to serving an administrative arrest. During my work at the plant, I was awarded diplomas and prizes more than once. But it doesn't mean anything as soon as your opinion and voice goes against the policy of the enterprise.
The management assured me in 2020 that no one would suffer and no one would be fired. But after my dismissal, none of the managers came up and did not say a word, as if I had never been at the plant. Our town is small, work is scarce, the plant is one of the main employers of the town. When looking for a new job, I often saw advertisements where the enterprises made a note that we do not take people with records in their labor records. It made me feel down.
Then it was quiet, but one summer day, in the middle of a weekday, a policeman came. He was supposedly looking for my mom — he just went around the whole apartment and left without explaining anything. At that moment I realized that they would not leave me alone and were just looking for any excuse to apply a criminal article and put me in jail. Fearing for my safety, I left the country.
I arrived in Poland in December 2023 and I am currently looking for a job. I have been temporarily sheltered by acquaintances, but I am very uncomfortable embarrassed to embarrass them. It is important for me to start working, but for now I have to ask for your help to get back on my feet. I am taking free Polish language courses and I plan to get my education in medical school (dental assistant, hygienist, podiatrist) at a local educational institution in order to start earning money sooner rather than later. I will be very grateful for any amount I can spare!
How much is needed?
€1500
€500 for rent for 2 months
€500 for educational courses in a new profession
€300 for clothes
€200 for everyday moments and services