On April 2, 2024, Aleksandr Lukashenko publicly warned people against emigrating from Belarus. His speech was shown on the state-run TV ONT.
“You may look at there, walk around, look over, you can travel there and buy something. But remember that if you lose the support and roots here, it will be a disaster. Some people rushed there, and now they bombarded [Prosecutor General Andrei — ed.] Shved’s commission with applications as if they want to return”, he said during the meeting with Grodno residents.
On February 19, 2024, in the House of Representatives, the Prosecutor General of Belarus Andrei Shved reported that the “return commission” had considered 37 real applications from those wishing to return during the year of work. As a result, about ten people have come back to their homeland within a year.
In total, the commission received 150 applications. As the Prosecutor General explained, in most of them the applicants either did not provide personal information or did not attach their documents, or simply asked for clarification. And sometimes these were threatening or off-topic messages.
