16 January 2025, 15:26

Lukashenko wants renewed focus on migration

MINSK, 16 January (BelTA) – It is necessary to give a higher priority to migration issues, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he talked to representatives of companies operating at the Minsk City Technopark on 16 January, BelTA learned.

According to him, during the conversation with the management of the technology park, the issue of labor migration was also raised. The president is not against hiring foreign citizens if they are qualified enough. “You should know what kind of people you hire and you should make sure that these people can do this job. If they don't, teach them. But you must be responsible for these ten or twenty people,” the Belarusian leader noted.

“Secondly, we must treat them humanely. They are human beings, just like us. And they always work well if they are treated decently. We will provide them with education and healthcare - everything that we are entitled to. This concerns Ukrainians, first and foremost,” the head of state remarked. “A lot of Ukrainians are coming to us these days. We must accept them as our own people. I have not heard anyone complain about their work ethic. They are good people,” the president said.

“In the near future, I will revisit all these issues; today respective authorities are working on them. While Belarus is not on fire, this matter needs to be addressed. After all, we need workforce. But each candidacy should be thoroughly examined. There are trade unions, youth organizations, political parties – they should help you with that. Let them check who we invite to work and whether we really need them,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

As he visited a church in Minsk Oblast on 7 January, Aleksandr Lukashenko mentioned a serious challenge in the field of migration: “I wanted to warn you that we have plenty of problems domestically as well. And challenges appear all the time. One can say they appear every month. You may not have noticed the latest challenge. And thank God for it, thanks to my work, the work of the government, government agencies. The challenge is forced migration. People fleeing from the war. All kinds of people. This migration engulfed Russia. God has taken mercy on us till today.”

“But I am already told that people from the East have started coming. Not only those, who want to start war and cause trouble here. No. There are also people, who want to live, work, earn money, and send it to their homeland in order to feed their kids. But the problem is that these people are not qualified enough. They don’t have the necessary skills. It is not a big deal either if they want to work and to learn. Our people can teach newcomers. We need workforce. But uncontrolled migration is a disaster,” the Belarusian leader remarked.