In Portugal since July 2022, Usevalad Okuneu has already expressed interest with the former Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), now transformed into the Agency for Integration, Migrations and Asylum, but has not yet received a response and is now without a valid passport because he is afraid of being arrested.
“In the spring I was called to the Belarusian KGB because of the donations I made to opponents” and, in these cases, a “person can go there for a day and be imprisoned for years”, said, in a humorous way, the immigrant in Coimbra.
Today, Usevald Okuneu is without a valid passport and, like him, there are many compatriots, opponents of the Lukashenko regime, which approved in September a law that prohibits the attribution of those documents by consulates abroad, forcing citizens to go to their home country to regulate the situation.
And, at the same time, Usevald Okuneu is without documents in Portugal. “I’m confident, everything will go well, I’ll be called and I’ll make it,” said the immigrant.
According to the representative of the Belarusian diaspora in Portugal, Yuliya Dulevich, this is not the only situation of legal limbo that only occurs because the Portuguese authorities are almost two years behind in pending regularization requests.
“At the moment, there are at least 10 Belarusians legally residing in Portugal, whose passports have expired or will expire in 2024, and even a short-term return to Belarus is dangerous, because the majority of those who left are active opposition to the regime, they are all running the risk of being detained at the border” and “sentenced to prison sentences even for donations to charitable organizations”, said the leader.
For now, the only solution would be a Portuguese passport for foreigners, but the Belarusian authorities no longer allow remote requests for civil status certificates, certificates or higher education diplomas, documents essential for this process.
Without this, “Belarusians cannot obtain the residence permit necessary to obtain a passport for foreigners,” he explained.
And with their passport expired, if they are called to regularize processes at AIMA, Belarusians “will not be able to obtain a residence permit, despite carrying out professional activities and contributing to the Portuguese State”.
“Belarusians are trapped in Portugal in an illegal situation, with serious restrictions on their normal lives”, highlighted Yuliya Dulevich.
The arrival of many Belarusians in Portugal took place in 2020, following the presidential campaign, won once again by Lukashenko, accused of electoral fraud and governing the country with an iron fist.
Following these elections, there were many violently repressed protests, leading to the flight of many opponents.
This was the case with Usevald Okuneu. “I left when the war started, participated in the 2020 protests and realized I couldn’t continue.”
And when Lukashenko leaves? Okuneu has doubts, but admitted to returning or dividing his time between Portugal and Belarus.
“I have to help my country build democracy, don’t I?” he explained.
