28 March 2024, Thursday, 14:28
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They To Come Back, I Believe

22
They To Come Back, I Believe
Iryna Khalip

Interesting and busy life is yet to come.

Recently, when the state decided not to grant deferment of military service to Belarusians studying at universities abroad, I was genuinely worried for Belarusian girls. I thought they wouldn't be able to meet their peers - perhaps, their intended grooms. After all, the boys who went to study in Europe will no longer be able to come home for vacations, lest they be drafted right at the border. It means girls will simply have nowhere to meet them.

Now I'm relaxed: Lukashenka's female alter ego named Kachanava came up with the idea of compulsory allocation even for those studying at universities on a paid basis. That's great. The state has made sure that young Belarusians will not be left alone. Now girls will go abroad and meet their fellow Belarusian boys there. All couples will unite; no one will suffer; love will come. And while they will study abroad, the girls will go home for vacations and bring gifts to their loved ones and their boyfriend's loved ones. They will meet their friends, enjoy their mother's cakes, walk in their favorite parks and keep the feeling that they are at home, not in exile. It's just study abroad, that's it. And then they return home with a European diploma but without placement. They would not be employed in the civil service but the private sector. Interesting and busy life is yet to come.

After graduation, a boy can not go home until 27 years - conscription age expires then. One could not even get married in one's homeland. That's all right. Parents and friends will try to attend the wedding, if they can. And if they can't, that's okay. They can celebrate later, because that's all prejudice, love comes first. So far, it makes sense to work in Europe, raise money for future wedding or even an apartment in Belarus, get a couple of convincing lines on your CV. It will help to make it to the most successful companies.

When the boy turns 27, he suddenly finds out that in a month he may qualify for a new position or a research grant. Meanwhile, a girl has a dissertation defense. And childbirth. And the mortgage no longer seems like something extraordinary. Settled life, cozy and stable. One does not smash down doors for selfies made two years ago at a meeting or fire people saying "you know", or jail one's friends and neighbors. One doesn't have to use a shuttle bus to go on vacation or fly via Istanbul or Aktau. There is no ideologist at work, who watches you. And a girl and a boy will stay there. And so will thousands boys and girls who are being kicked out of the country by the Belarusian state today.

By the way, for the sake of curiosity, I looked up the tuition fee on the BSU website: $3,000 to $4,000 a year. And this is while tuition is free for foreigners at most Polish, Czech, German, Austrian, and Irish universities. One only has to pay a minimal semester fee for the use of the library and other student amenities. There are plenty of scholarships and grants for foreigners wishing to study there. With permission for students to work part-time. I was surprised how anyone still studies for a fee at Belarusian universities. There will be much fewer of them. Graduates will soon go to universities on a need-to-know basis, to fill the lecture halls. One may also introduce an article in the Criminal Code: evasion from higher education in the home country.

I can understand the twisted logic of the regime, trying to get rid of pensioners: in order not to pay pensions, it is better to destroy them with crop dust. When the regime does its best to get rid of the young, the taxpayers who will be replenishing the treasury for decades, this does not even fit into the most insane logical schemes. Only fear - illogical, instinctive, uncontrollable - of any citizen of our country can compel the creation of all the things that are happening today. Pensioners pose a threat as they have nothing to lose; they do not depend on contracts and ideologues anymore. It means one can't keep them under control. Young people pose a threat as they have their whole lives ahead. They intend to build their lives without reference to the state ideology; freedom is more valuable. Middle-aged Belarusians have lived through the nineties, hunger, and food stamps, but they also remember a free country, so they are not going to fall for any bullshit or promises. Children are the worst of all, because they grow up like in a war, instantly.

The regime has turned even its own world into ruins. Now it is turning ours into ruins. These boys and girls will one day return to these ruins. And they will come back, I believe.

Iryna Khalip, specially for Charter97.org

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