Belarusians Come Across Travel Restrictions By Decision Of Military Enlistment Offices

At the border they put a stamp “Departure denied”.

Several Belarusians have already come across a ban on leaving the country. They say that the reason is the decision of military enlistment offices. Zerkalo tried to find out how widespread such cases are.

In the chat room of Belarusians in Poland a few days ago, one of the users wrote that he was unable to leave Belarus. The man is sure: the decision of the military enlistment office was the reason for the refusal to leave.

— At the passport control from the side of Belarus, they turned around and put a stamp “Departure denied”, — he wrote. The man claims that the restriction was issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the initiative of the military enlistment office. The man did not want to tell the details of his story.

Another Belarusian — Mikalai (name changed) also faced a travel ban. He was planning to go abroad for permanent residence and get a passport of the PP series. For this, men need not only to close individual entrepreneurship, pay debts to the state and alimony arrears (if any), and so on, but also must obtain the consent of the military enlistment office.

— If any of the structures does not agree with the fact that a person can move, a letter arrives that the departure for a permanent residence is prohibited, — explains Mikalai. — As I understand it, the reason for the ban was that I did not serve in the army. In terms of health, I am not fit, but I did not have the opportunity to pass the medical examination until the end, the visa for departure was running out. Therefore, I simply did not appear by the summons.

As a result, after receiving an exit ban for permanent residence, the man decided not to risk being stopped at the border and crossed it illegally.

Military enlistment offices of Belarus have always been able to limit the right of citizens to leave in case of non-appearance for military service — this is stipulated in the legislation. But are there additional restrictions in connection with the mass data verification that takes place in the country?

As they told journalists on the State Border Committee's hotline, the border guards “did not receive any additional training” either from the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the Ministry of Defense.

— We don't have any such restrictions. If people are not recognized as debtors, are not under prosecution in the framework of any business, please let them leave. We do not check data from the military enlistment office.

— That is, if a person does not come to the military enlistment office to check his personal data, will you let him out of the country?

— Everything is working normally, as it used to be, there are no such restrictions. We don't know if he showed up for this data check-up, if he didn't show up — we're not interested in that. If there are no problems with the law, let him enter and leave at least several times a day.

— It turns out that you did not receive any additional instructions from the military enlistment offices in recent months?

— We deny access if the person is a debtor, or on the wanted list, if any measures are being taken against them, if the citizen has committed illegal actions. Military enlistment offices did not forbid anything, there was no such thing. Everything is normal.