Republic

MINSK, 13 December (BelTA) – More foreigners with refugee status prefer to stay in Belarus. Belarus turns from transit country into a country of residence, Chief Expert of the refugees and asylum office of the Citizenship and Migration Department of Belarus’ Interior Ministry Natalia Sokolovskaya told the round-table conference, Refugees Integration in the Republic of Belarus: Employment and Social Protection, on 13 December. While in 2005, 300 out of 700 persons with refugee status stayed in Belarus, in 2010, 600 out of more than 800 refugees decided to make their residence in Belarus permanent. According to the data, provided by the Citizenship and Migration Department, since 1997 more than 3,500 people have applied for refugee status, and 819 of them have acquired it. 117 people have lost this status after obtaining the Belarusian citizenship over the same period. “Citizenship obtaining is a legal tool to integrate refugees into the society,” Natalia Sokolovskaya said. Most of the applications (60%) come from the Afghan citizens, Georgians come second with 11%, and refugees from Tajikistan are third. Some citizens of Russia and Ukraine have recently appealed for refugee status. Their applications account for 3% and 2% respectively. As of today, more than 500 persons with refugee status reside in Belarus. Most of refugees (433) live in Minsk and Minsk Oblast, 66 reside in Gomel Oblast, 35 – in Mogilev Oblast, 25 – in Vitebsk Oblast, 14 – in Grodno Oblast, and 9 – in Brest Oblast.

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