Taking part in peaceful protests cost Ivan, a football fan and athlete, three and a half years in one of the harshest correctional facilities in Belarus. He managed to leave the country after his release and is asking for support to cover his first few months in exile.
Andrei spent two years evacuating the wounded from the front until an illness struck him down while he was on duty. After several operations, doctors prescribed treatment at a sanatorium to help him return to service. But Andrei cannot afford to pay for it.
Vladislav worked on a construction site for three months to save up for his studies, but his employer never paid him. Now the young family of political emigrants is already in Warsaw and could lose their place in the Kalinowski Programme.
The chairman of the Belarusian Green Party was sentenced to six years in a correctional facility. He was forcibly taken to Lithuania, but due to lengthy paperwork procedures, Dzmitry was left without any money. He is asking for help covering rent and food expenses.
The women drew the attention of law enforcers by openly expressing their sexual orientation. After Hera was summoned to the police station, the couple decided not to take any risks and flee Belarus. They have only been in the new country for a few months and are starting their lives over.
A serious leg injury and a series of unsuccessful surgeries have forced Sviatlana out of normal life. She needs support for rehabilitation so that she can walk normally again.
A former political prisoner was forced to emigrate to Poland after prison, but due to health problems, he urgently needs support while he recovers and looks for work.
Igor* was prosecuted for passing information about the movement of military equipment to the “Belarusian Hajun” project. After being released from custody, he left Belarus and is asking for help with retraining.
A former political prisoner fled Belarus to the Czech Republic with his underage son, where they applied for international protection. While the procedure and paperwork were underway, Andrei was unable to legally earn a living and found himself in a financial hole. He is asking for support for himself and his son to help them stay afloat for several months.
After his release, a former political prisoner left Belarus for Poland. With a Group 3 disability, his health seriously deteriorated while in detention, and now, due to problems with his documents, he is deprived of basic assistance and health insurance and needs support while he recovers, obtains protection, and starts working.
A Belarusian woman and her son ended up in exile to avoid imprisonment. She now lives in Poland, but because her child was very young, she was unable to find a job. Now she is able to work, but urgently needs support to pay for housing and childcare.
Alexey left Belarus after a meeting with a KGB officer who threatened him and offered him cooperation. In Poland, the student was denied international protection, and in order to pay for legal assistance and file an appeal, he went into serious debt.
For displaying two flags in 2022 — the white-red-white flag and the Ukrainian flag — Kateryna Zaretskaya was sentenced to 5 years in a correctional facility. After being deported first to Ukraine and then to Poland, Katya faced the consequences of the hard labour she endured in the correctional facility — hernias and a spinal disc protrusion. She needs help paying for a rehabilitation course to preserve her health and ability to work.
Katya Bartko applied for asylum in the United States because of political persecution in Belarus. As a result of a wrongful arrest, she ended up in an immigration detention centre, without the life-saving medication she needs, and came within a hair's breadth of death. Her partner Dmitry is asking for help to free her from detention with the assistance of lawyers and prevent her deportation to Belarus.
In March this year, former political prisoner Denis was forcibly deported to Lithuania after a group of political prisoners was released. Since then, the Belarusian has been rebuilding his life in exile. To become financially independent, he needs to gain a new profession, and while he studies, he needs to cover housing, food, and treatment for dermatitis.
The Belarusian Solidarity Centre provides legal, educational and cultural support to Belarusians in Poland. Today its work is threatened. The Centre urgently needs financial support.