The launch of a five-day visa-free entry for citizens of 80 states will not increase the flow of refugees to Belarus, Representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Belarus Jean-Yves Bouchardy told reporters.
Jean-Yves Bouchardy noted that the visa-free initiative is aimed at attracting tourists to Belarus. “At the same time, labor migration has entirely different regulation mechanisms. One has to prepare a set of documents, to get a permission entitling to job placement, and only then a visa is issued,” he said.
Jean-Yves Bouchardy said that the flow of foreign nationals seeking asylum in Belarus, Ukrainians and Syrians mainly, has decreased recently. All in all, 641 people requested asylum or subsidiary protection in Belarus in the period from January to October 2016. At the moment, there are 8,000 persons of UNHCR's concern living in Belarus.