On this page, you will find:

To find organisations working for LGBTQI+ rights, visit our Belarus LGBTQI+ Resources page.
For Belarus country of information (COI) experts, reports, commentaries, and relevant documents visit our Belarus COI page. 

Refugee protection

Click here to see the numbers and origins of refugees hosted by Belarus. 

The following sections contain information on the most important international treaties and agreements of which Belarus is signatory, as well as national legislation relevant to the protection of refugees.

Since 2001 Belarus has been both a party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and to its 1967 Protocol. Belarus, however, has not yet accepted the UN Statelessness Conventions, including the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

In 2009, a new version of the Law on Refugees was introduced in Belarus, including the following amendments — an introduction of complementary protection in addition to refugee status and an absolute ban on removal from Belarus individuals who will be tortured in their countries of origin. Then in 2017, a new version accumulated following the mass arrival of citizens of Ukraine in which it eliminated almost all grounds for rejection not in line with the 1951 Convention, provided clear obligations for border control to receive asylum applications, and granted refugees similar socio-economic rights as citizens.

Legal aid organisations

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An informal Polish network of NGOs, activists, lawyers, doctors, psychologists and inhabitants of the area of the Polish-Belarusian border, established as a response to the humanitarian refugee crisis in the region. It offers on-the-ground, material support for the people at the border, coordinates a Poland-wide response to the crisis and any new developments. The group also includes documentation, investigation and legal teams

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Address: Olshevskogo Street, 74, Minsk
Tel: +375 (29) 645-49-44
Email: pa.bmmw@gmail.com
Contact person: Natallia Karkanitsa (Legal Coordinator), Tatsiana Shcharbetka (Protection Monitoring Coordinator)

The Refugee Counselling Service is a joint project of the UNHCR and the public association “The Belarusian Movement of Medical Workers” and assists refugees in Belarus by providing legal aid services.

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Address: 22A Krasnoarmeiskaya str. 22A, 79-80, 220030, Minsk

Tel (calls, sms, messengers): +375 (29) 333-59-49
Tel (landline 1): +375 (17) 328-69-61
Tel (landline 2): +375 (17) 328-56-35
Email: blrmi@unhcr.org

The UNHCR in Belarus has been providing assistance to refugees, asylum seekers and stateless persons since 1995. The UNHCR works to improve asylum space in the region, promote tolerance, facilitate integration, and develop durable solutions for forcibly displaced persons. 

Organisations providing other support to refugees

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Address: Secretariat (Minsk) 35 Karl Marx str., 22030, Minsk
Tel (reception): +375 (17) 263-84-17 
Tel (international cooperation): +375 (17) 363-98-46 Tel
Email: info@redcross.by
Contact Person(s): Dmitry Cherednichenko (Chairman), Dmitry Shevtsov (Secretary General), and Vadim Chernyavski (Legal Advisor)

Belarusian Red Cross (BRC) provides asylum-seekers and people granted protection in Belarus humanitarian assistance in the form of food and hygienic kits, clothing and footwear for children and adults, counseling on and facilitation of integration, and referral to relevant state authorities for targeted assistance in accordance with their competence. BRC can also assist you to look for any missing family members.

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Address (Belarus): Pereulok Gorny, 3 220005, Minsk, Belarus
Tel: + 375 (17) 288 27 42  and + 375 (17) 228 27 43
Fax: +375 17 288 27 44

Address (Headquarters): International Organization for Migration (IOM)
17, Route des Morillons, CH-1211 Geneva 19, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 717 9111
Fax: +41 22 798 6150
Email: hq@iom.int

International Organization for Migration (IOM) assists foreign citizens with assisted voluntary return to the countries of their origin as well as provides consultations on safe travel and stay abroad. Over the years, IOM Belarus has been implementing projects in the following spheres: combating human trafficking; labour migration; integrated border management; cross-border cooperation; migration and health; crisis response. In recent years, with an increasing number of vulnerable migrants and refugees in Belarus, IOM has intensified its crisis response activities, including the provision of direct assistance to beneficiaries, including food and non-food items; accommodation; transportation; psychosocial support and psychological assistance; medical assistance; facilitation of employment; provision of vocational training; voluntary return to the country of origin. In addition to the main IOM office in Minsk, fieldwork is carried out by IOM project sites in Gomel, Mogilev, Vitebsk, and Brest to ensure comprehensive and prompt assistance.

Belarus LGBTQI+ Resources

Find organisations working for refugee LGBTQI+ rights in Belarus.

Belarus COI

Find Belarus Country of Origin information (COI) experts, reports, commentaries, and relevant documents. 

We are always looking to expand the resources on our platform. If you know about relevant resources, or you are aware of organisations and/or individuals to include in our directories, please get in touch.

Last updated May 2023