Stories of Belarusian students studying at MU

The story of Belarusian Student of Faculty of Social Studies

1. Will you please share with us your story, especially what made you move from Belarus to the Czech Republic to Masaryk University? Did you personally experience any forms of oppression from the regime?

"I came to Czech Republic because I saw my future in Belarus is no longer possible. The political crisis in my country is having a devastating effect on our people, our nation, my family. We do not feel that we are residents of a free, democratic, and secure country. My family and I are under direct pressure from the regime, those chastisements have been hanged to us simply for the disagreement with the current government. I do not have the opportunity to come home as I am afraid of being suppressed, that my family and I are forced to look for places to meet each other.

By accepting me as a student, Masaryk University gave me hope for a better future. I am convinced that I am studying in the right place, I am convinced that thanks to all the abilities and facilities of the Masaryk University, I am getting closer to my professional goals, I am also deeply convinced that thanks to the knowledge and skills that I will acquire in Masaryk University, I can influence the fate of my country and bring it closer to the European world."

2. We would like to ask you to express your feelings or thoughts related to the current events in Belarus. Is there anything you would like to say to the people of the Czech Republic / democratic Europe in this context?

"The observed hardships in my country entailed by the political events are echoed in my heart with great pain. I am deeply concerned about the fate of my country, and will do everything in my power to benefit the prosperity of the new and free Belarus.

I can say that Belarusian people will never be the same; a radical re-installation of Belarusian life called by the government's abnormal conduct has taken place in the hearts and minds of the Belarusians. I wish the Belarusian people with all my heart patience, courage and resilience to survive the difficult stage of the beginning of the formation of the different Belarus."

The story of Belarusian Student of Faculty of Economics and Administration

1. Will you please share with us your story, especially what made you move from Belarus to the Czech Republic to Masaryk University? Did you personally experience any forms of oppression from the regime?

"Initially, I was not allowed to continue my studies at the master's program because of the Belarusian ‘restrictive‘ legislation. I had to work. At that time, I just started participating in protests, solidarity actions. I even received a notice of administrative responsibility when I went out with flowers to the avenue. But when the situation escalated so much that people began to beat up in front of my eyes, I had to hide in the entrances, and it was scary to go out in the red-and-white elements, and my father was threatened with dismissal for my civic position – of course, I realized that at that moment I would not be able to develop in the country. Therefore, I was extremely happy to apply and receive an offer from Masaryk University and continue my studies and to fulfill myself, which I really wanted, in a safe and favorable environment at a decent level."

2. We would like to ask you to express your feelings or thoughts related to the current events in Belarus. Is there anything you would like to say to the people of the Czech Republic / democratic Europe in this context?

"I think it is very meaningful to continue to draw the attention of the world community to the situation in Belarus. And I am glad that solidarity actions continue, and Belarusians continue to take small but important steps to fight the anti-democratic regime. After all, it is extremely important to make efforts to fight the regime that perceives the slightest hint of expressing its own position, opinion as ‘anti-state ideas‘, fines and puts people behind bars for this; a regime in which political prisoners are people with an active civic position, caring citizens, talented artists, athletes, are forced to be in custody; a regime in which the state budget runs away to contests and entertainment, while hospitals lack equipment for covid patients, and at the same time ‘mask regime‘ is completely canceled. Nevertheless, the elections of last year and the activity of our people's leaders have turned people's minds, and many Belarusians who even live abroad do not stop monitoring the situation and are trying in every way to help: through solidarity actions, letters to political prisoners, etc. – hoping for better prospective and democratic future for Belarus."

The story of Belarusian Student of Faculty of Science MU

1. Will you please share with us your story, especially what made you move from Belarus to the Czech Republic to Masaryk University? Did you personally experience any forms of oppression from the regime?

"I decided to study in the Czech Republic long before the events of 2020. My decision was made after I got some working and study experience in Belarus. Then I clearly understood that the system we have (I mean, the political régime and ideology) influences all the spheres of our life. You can't have science, medicine, art, a good environment, education, or a healthy society in an undemocratic country. Because all these things are connected to decision freedom and open information. For some years I was trying my best to change something in the spheres I was connected to, but I failed. I have my parents' example as well. I understood that to work and live in Belarus means to become a part of the system, to accept it, or at least not to contradict it. And I can't, because for me it means to live without a future. Unfortunately, Belarus still lives in past, the times of the USSR. It's a road to nowhere. That's why I decided to study abroad and chose MUNI. Here I feel free, safe, and can get the best quality education independent of any ideology. And I am grateful that MUNI supported me.

What about state oppression, yes, I have my personal story. Though, I was ucky not to be hurt or imprisoned like many other people. I'm not sure whether I would like to explain myself in front of the auditory. I still take last year's events as a tragedy and find painful the situation we have now."

2. We would like to ask you to express your feelings or thoughts related to the current events in Belarus. Is there anything you would like to say to the people of the Czech Republic / democratic Europe in this context?

"I would like to say that in my opinion, all that has happened in Belarus happened due to the people who lied and the people who didn't ask for the truth. Living in Belarus is living in two realities, one is real and the other is created by ideology. You can choose which of these worlds to live in. But being indifferent or do not contradict the system of lie and violence means destroying the future."

The story of Belarusian Student of Faculty of Informatics MU

1. Will you please share with us your story, especially what made you move from Belarus to the Czech Republic to Masaryk University? Did you personally experience any forms of oppression from the regime?

"Did I undergo any form of oppression? If by that you mean some sort of physical abuse or my personal victimization, then no, I managed to avoid that by some stroke of luck. If, however, you take into account the constant fear to wear red when you're out on the streets, fear that at any moment you can be cut off from the outer world, fear that any second now you can hear knocking on the door and see thugs in police uniforms through the peephole, fear of posting anything politics-related on social media, then... I would say that kind of oppression soaked through to all of us who happened to be unfortunate enough to be in Belarus in the post-election period.

Did I leave because I was scared? Surprisingly, no. At that point I had been planning to move to the Czech Republic for quite a while; such a layover of events was a sheer coincidence, that everyone around me couldn’t be happier about. “At least someone will have stable Internet connection... Well... And maybe freedom of speech”. Nevertheless, even though I personally haven’t experienced any kind of poor treatment by the regime, I know a lot of people who have, so I would like to dedicate this piece to them, and possibly enlighten some of you here on what The Belarusian Experience is.

Now I imagine you might be a little confused about all of those Internet cutoff jokes I'm making, let me explain. On August 9^th, 2020, amid the elections, every possible way to connect to the web disappeared: WI-FI, data, cable Internet... Lasting for about 3 full days. Wondering what the one-man government had to say about it? I’ll quote. “At this very moment our specialists are trying to track where this blocking is coming from. Hence, if the Internet isn’t working sufficiently, that’s not our initiative, it’s coming from abroad”. Followed closely by “so far we’ve tracked signals from the UK, Poland and the Czech Republic”. Which basically makes all of us here traitors on a national level: leaving Belarus for our biggest enemies (who are not even aware of it). Obviously, this informational cutoff wasn’t by any means the peak of what was happening or what was to come, it just shows the lengths Lukashenko was willing to go to, to protect his good name abroad (he really thought he had one).

I could go on and on and on about the events following the elections: the strikes, the peaceful protests, the imprisonments, the deaths, but I’m afraid none of you here have another 24 hours to spare on this event, so instead I’ll focus on what the situation looks like now, and why I couldn't be more grateful that I was granted an opportunity to come here and start fresh.

The status quo could be described as information warfare with emphasis on persecuting IT specialists and businessmen (which probably brings the older generations sweet-sweet memories of their Soviet childhood; people do say that trends always come back, don’t they?). The national news is an open propaganda against those two “classes” of people, aimed mainly at senior citizens, who get all their information from the TV, therefore who they can feed with as many lies as they want. They openly cuss out people working in IT, claim it’s their fault our country is falling apart, insist that they were the ones organizing the protests without an ounce of consideration for less prosperous people, who it will affect most. As a result, elderly and even younger people with poor critical thinking skills catch the bait, go on and give dirty looks to everyone they know to be working with computers. Their main argument is always something along the lines of “Take a look at how much you make, working for the Rotten West! As if they live better than we do here. Look at what you’ve done with your desire for a better life for all, as if we were suffering before. You should appreciate what you have and keep quiet...”. You get the idea. Quite a progressive mindset, don’t you agree?

At this very moment there isn’t a single independent mass medium (that wouldn’t be owned by the state), all the public associations and organizations were shut down (even something called “Society for the Protection of Birds”), people are getting stopped and controlled on the street if they’re heard speaking Belarusian (in a country called Belarus), people are getting tracked down and thrown into jails for commenting on political posts on social media (a woman got sentenced to 1.5 years of partial incarceration for an emoji she replied with to a post criticizing the regime). Deplorably, these stories have many variations that simply never end. But that’s what we’re fighting for, right?

Thank you for giving me a voice (ironically, to talk about how I didn’t have it before) and hopefully I managed to give you a little more insight into what it’s like to live on Belarusian grounds in this day and age.

Жыве Беларусь!"

2. We would like to ask you to express your feelings or thoughts related to the current events in Belarus. Is there anything you would like to say to the people of the Czech Republic / democratic Europe in this context?

"During the Czech parliamentary elections, I got to accompany some czech people to the polling place. One of them said: “You’ll get to experience your first fair elections, must be exciting”. And frankly all I have to say is that this would be funny if only it wasn’t so sad."

The story of another Belarusian Student of Faculty of Economics and Administration

We would like to ask you to express your feelings or thoughts related to the current events in Belarus. Is there anything you would like to say to the people of the Czech Republic / democratic Europe in this context?

"Everything that is happening in Belarus now is not just a struggle with the authorities, Belarusians are fighting for their choice and their freedom. We knew that going against the system meant facing opposition and difficulties, but we did not expect to face such rigidity and violence. Despite the fact that now is a difficult time and all the boundaries of the terrible have already been crossed, everyone feels the strength not to give up.

We do not give up thanks to mutual help, a common desire to be free and the belief that the majority now has the power, thanks to the international publicity, the help of democratic countries and the continuous work of our chosen leader Svetlana Tikhonovskaya.

The emotions of Belarusians now are no longer fear and helplessness, but determination and pride, this is the desire to hear the truth and tell the truth, the opportunity not to be afraid anymore, this is confidence that we will win and will live in free country.

In the current situation that is happening in Belarus, it is not Belarusians who have no choice, but the authorities, their every action now is another mistake that will lead to the failure of Lukashenko."