Belarus academic community under siege: Here’s how to help

Even before the changes brought in by the disputed 2020 presidential elections and the anti- government protests that followed, Belarus did not rank high in the global index of academic freedom, which includes factors like freedom to research and teach, institutional autonomy, and academic and cultural expression.

Since the 1990s when the country declared independence, Scholars at Risk has noted a steady decline in academic freedom levels in Belarus: from 0.6 in 1994 to 0.19 in 2019 and 0.03 in 2022, placing Belarus in the bottom 10% of all countries covered, where it remains in 2025.

Nevertheless, it was after the changes following the 2020 elections that the level of freedom in Belarusian education and academia started to decline even more rapidly as more repressive policies and the growing influence of political ideology penetrated university walls.

A new report on academia

Despite the numerous attempts by the authorities to silence independent media, youth NGOs and human rights defenders through repressive measures, the actions of the Lukashenka regime have not gone unnoticed.

One of the actors covering the situation in the Belarusian academic field both inside and outside the country is the Belarusian Students’ Association (BSA). Since August 2020, the organisation has been publishing annual reports on the state of Belarusian academia.

This March, a new edition of the report was released, covering events that took place between January and December 2024, with some exceptions (for instance, events that took place in the lead-up to the 2025 presidential elections in Belarus).

It includes the following topics: politically motivated prosecution of students and faculty members as well as organisations engaged in activities related to education and academia; growing ideological control and militarisation of Belarusian education; the situation regarding mandatory job placement; and the situation for Belarusian students abroad.

Several examples deserve to be mentioned in relation to these, while more details (those known to the BSA) can be found in the report.

Persecution of students and faculty

First, in 2024 students and faculty in universities continued to face persecution for any form of criticism or dissent against the authorities, with most of the cases taken out being connected to past actions in the aftermath of the 2020 protests or the full-scale war in Ukraine.

For example, a fifth-year university student was sentenced in Minsk under an article of the Criminal Code for her involvement in protests in 2020. Several students from the Belarusian National Technical University were allegedly detained for “collaboration with Ukrainian intelligence services” and labelled a “terrorist cell” while being paraded on television.

Another case involves a lecturer at the State University of Hrodna who was on trial under a criminal article for financing “extremist” activities. This is what human rights organisations, NGOs and independent media are called by the authorities.

Second, ideological pressure on universities is stronger than ever. One recent development is court trials under political charges conducted within university premises in front of students. Sometimes such hearings are accompanied by lectures for students about their legal responsibility, including in relation to so-called “extremist” offences.

The Belarusian academic community also faced challenges before the 2024 parliamentary “elections”. So-called “open dialogues” were held with students, focusing on “patriotic education for young people”. At the same time, these events were used to warn them of the consequences of involvement in “extremist and terrorist activities”.

Another trend in 2024 was cases where Belarusian students were transported to Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine to participate in various events. This is in line with the Belarusian authorities’ political, logistical and technical support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, despite minor differences in their visions for a potential ceasefire.

Next, Belarus is the only European country where all students whose studies are state funded are assigned their first job by universities, often with barely any transparency in the process. It is possible to opt out, but that requires repaying the costs of students’ education plus additional fees.

In 2023 and 2024, Belarusian authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka and Minister of Education Andrey Ivanets repeatedly declared the necessity to extend this system to include fee-paying students as well. For now, this idea remains a consideration for the future.

Nevertheless, Ivanets has proposed a significant increase in the financial compensation that young people must pay to the state if they refuse to fulfil their job placement after completing state-funded education.

Belarusian students abroad

One chapter of the BSA’s report is dedicated to Belarusian students abroad. In the 2023-24 academic year around 18,000 Belarusians were studying at European universities (mostly in Poland).

First of all, Belarusian nationals still can’t renew their passports in consular offices abroad; they can only do it within the country. This leads to bureaucratic difficulties as those students who can’t return to Belarus for safety reasons have to find a way to continue their studies and legal stay before their documents expire.

Often they rely on so-called ‘travel documents’ issued by European countries. However, it’s not always possible to get them: the BSA specifically mentions a Norwegian case which resulted in several rejections.

Moreover, in their attempts to halt the brain drain Belarusian authorities have created additional obstacles for young people who want to study abroad. They include complicated procedures for obtaining apostille (an official certificate that verifies the authenticity of a public document) and problems with issuing certificates that detail the programme studied by the applicant at secondary school.

Among other challenges are visa rejections and difficulties regarding diploma recognition in Poland, payment delays faced by those supported by specific scholarship programmes, admission restrictions in Lithuania, etc.

Call for support

What can be done to support the Belarusian academic community and youth activists?

First and foremost – we need to spread the word to raise awareness. You can start with this article, as well as reading the BSA report mentioned above.

If you’re a part of a university community, you can check whether there are Belarusian students at your institution and what kind of support they need.

You can also advocate at university or at higher levels for the creation of scholarship programmes for Belarusians who have faced political prosecution and for the improvement of admission and academic document recognition procedures for Belarusian applicants considering the bureaucratic obstacles imposed by the Belarusian authorities.

Most importantly, young people from Belarus should seek an alternative model of education, where quality and academic freedom are more important than ideology.

The Belarusian Students’ Association (BSA) is an independent, student-led membership organisation from Belarus, currently based in exile. Our mission is to create conditions under which Belarusian student communities, both inside the country and abroad, have a voice in society and can protect their rights and interests.

This article is a commentary. Commentary articles are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of University World News.