MINSK, 3 December (BelTA) – The number of Syrian citizens arriving in Belarus has remained unchanged, head of the Citizenship and Migration Department of the Interior Ministry of Belarus Alexei Begun told media during the regional seminar held on 3 December to discuss the asylum policy, BelTA informs.
“The number of refugees from Syria remains stable. The interior bodies receive applications mainly from the Syrian citizens that have already been living in Belarus for a long time and had arrived in the country before the armed hostilities. They are usually students of the country's higher educational establishments,” said Alexei Begun.
In his words, Syrian people go second after Ukrainians in the number of applications for asylum the Belarusian competent bodies receive today.
The regional forum has gathered experts from Belgium, Germany, Latvia, Poland and Romania as well as representatives of the EU, the United Nations Office of the Higher Commissioner for Refugees and the competent bodies of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The forum has been organized to study the best international practices in forced migration, enhance the quality of training and taking decisions on granting the refugee status, and improve the professional level of the personnel of the interior bodies in the issues of the relevant national and international legislation.
In 2015 over 1,100 foreigners from 23 states sought asylum in Belarus. As of 1 December 2015 the refugee status was granted on 926 foreigners. An estimated 1,143 foreigners received additional protection.
