Designate Belarus for Deferred Enforced Departure Status

Dear Mr. President:

On behalf of Belarusian American organizations, Belarus Freedom Forum writes to express our strong support for all your efforts achieving the release of political prisoners in Belarus. To maintain the momentum of your success, we urge you to designate the Republic of Belarus for Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) status, which will provide temporary protection from removal for Belarusian nationals currently residing in the United States.

We appreciate your recognition that a free, independent, sovereign, and democratic Belarus is essential to the security and prosperity of Eastern Europe and global peace, as reflected in the appointment of John Coale as a Special Envoy for Belarus. We applaud your success in securing the release of almost 200 political prisoners from Belarus, including 2020 presidential hopeful Siarhei Tsikhanouski, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Ales Bialiacki, and other prominent Belarusians.

We welcome the declaration of a national emergency regarding Belarus, “Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Belarus”, that classifies the Lukashenka regime’s actions as constituting a US national security threat and underlines the regime’s longstanding history of human rights abuses and political repression, particularly the repression in the aftermath of the fraudulent 2020 Belarusian presidential election.

Despite five years having passed since the 2020 peaceful protests in Belarus, the repressive machine persecuting perceived opponents of the regime has not stopped. The Lukashenka regime continues to arbitrarily detain, arrest, and hand down fabricated prison sentences to Belarusians. The regime is particularly suspicious of Belarusian citizens who traveled and lived outside of Belarus, detaining and arresting Belarusians upon their return to Belarus from abroad.

Hundreds of thousands of Belarusians fled the repressions. Several hundred of them have found refuge in the United States. The Belarusian American organizations have long advocated for protective status for Belarusians in the United States and for the deferral of enforced departures of Belarusian nationals to Belarus, given the credible, high risk to the safety of Belarusians deported to Belarus.

With this letter, we call for Belarus to be designated for Deferred Enforced Departure status. Designating Belarus for Deferred Enforced Departure would demonstrate continued U.S. leadership in protecting vulnerable populations while maintaining consistency with our nation’s humanitarian values and foreign policy objectives. Given the U.S. Department of State’s clear documentation of ongoing human rights abuses, DED represents an appropriate and necessary response to ensure that Belarusian nationals are not forced to return to conditions of repression and abuse.

Sincerely,

Belarus Freedom Forum
Belarusian American Association (BAZA), D.C.
Belarusian American Association (BAZA), SoCal
Belarusian American Association (BAZA), South Florida
Belarusian Institute of Arts and Sciences
Association of Belarusians in America
Belarusians in Chicago
Belarusians of Boston and New England
Seattle Belarusians
Belarusian Americans NFP
Belarus-FREEDOM Philadelphia
Belarusians of Charlotte and North Carolina
Belarusian Carolinas Trails
Belarusians of San Diego
Belarusians of San Francisco
Belarusians of Sacramento
Belarusians of Washington, D.C.
Belarusians of Florida
Belarusians of Orlando
Belarusians of Minnesota
BYACTION