About 90 Belarusians, most of whom are Syrian citizens’ family members, still stay in Syria, an officer at the Belarusian embassy in Syria said. The embassy failed to establish contact with eight Belarusians who are thought to have left Syria on their own.
“Most Belarusian citizens have left the country either with our assistance or on their own,” he said. “Currently, there are no people who would like to be evacuated. We have not received any applications. The last person who asked for our assistance was a woman whom we sent to Belarus last Monday.”
The diplomat pointed out that there was a group of 10 Belarusians who were ready to leave Syria if the situation in the country worsened, but who had not yet made up their mind as they did not have a place to live and work in Belarus.
According to the diplomat, some Belarusians who are out of immediate danger are not going to leave Syria. In case they wish to be evacuated, the Belarusian embassy is ready to provide them seats on board flights out of Damascus, he said.
The Belarusian embassy in Syria has been evacuating Belarusian citizens for more than a year, the diplomat said. “We evacuate people through various channels,” he said. “We use funds provided by both the Belarusian government and the International Organization for Migration. We evacuate people by planes of the emergency management ministries of Russia and Ukraine.”
The diplomat did not say whether the Belarusian embassy’s staff would leave Syria but noted that the embassy would continue to work until there were Belarusian citizens there.
On September 4, the Belarusian foreign ministry strongly recommended that Belarusian citizens leave war-torn Syria amid reports that the United States and its allies might launch a military strike against the Bashar al-Assad regime.
The Belarusian citizens can apply for help to the Belarusian Embassy in Syria (telephone number: + 963 11 6118097; + 963 944 221004) or to the Honorary Consul’s Office of the Republic of Belarus in Beirut (telephone number: +961 4 542777).
Belsat, following BelaPAN
