Belarusian Foreign Ministry helps evacuate Belarusian woman with three children from Gaza Strip
At the Minsk National Airport, the woman's parents met her loved ones after a long separation. Together with her eldest son, who studies in Belarus. Now their immediate plans are to settle in our country and send their children to school.
This is a story about a long-awaited return home. The plane that Tatyana and her three children arrived on landed at the National Airport closer to midnight. The journey home took them almost two days. Now they are completely safe. The family was able to leave the Gaza Strip. And their case is called unique.
Valentina Bartosh, the mother of the evacuated Belarusian woman, a resident of the Slonim District:
When the unrest began in Israel, they were unable to come right away. The daughter asked us for help, she said there was nothing left there. They lived in a house with cracks in the walls, because the other half of the house was destroyed. There were no windows or doors left because of the continuous bombing. We started thinking about how to help.
"We feel joy. We've almost gone crazy over the past year. This is such a unique case. Did I hope? I did. But I didn't expect that they would help to such an extent," said the father of the evacuated Belarusian woman, a resident of the Slonim district, Alexander Bartosh.
The evacuation process in this case was not easy. It was not possible to take the woman and her children out of the Gaza Strip via a simple and safe route (via the airport in Israel's Tel Aviv). Some countries simply refused to help. It was not possible to provide a route through the checkpoint on the border between Egypt and Palestine and Israel. But, thanks to the work of diplomats, it was possible to ensure the border crossing via the Allenby Bridge between Israel and Jordan.
Tatyana Abualkas, an evacuated Belarusian woman:
A very difficult journey. We were on the road for three days. We were saved by the fact that our diplomats were next to us, they did not leave us for a minute. The most important thing is peace. When you go to bed and don't know whether you'll get up in the morning or not, wake up or not, don't know whether your children will be alive tomorrow morning or not - it's very scary. My husband stayed there, didn't come. He's a doctor, he's needed there. I came because I want my children to be safe, so that they have a peaceful sky above their heads.
The evacuation of the family began on Tuesday morning after receiving a number of approvals from the competent authorities of Israel and Jordan, as well as from the International Committee of the Red Cross. Representatives of Belarusian foreign missions personally accompanied and assisted in crossing checkpoints on the Palestinian-Israeli and Israeli-Jordanian borders. Our ambassadors in Syria also helped resolve the issue of temporary accommodation of the Belarusians in Jordan and their departure from the local airport. The family was also accompanied in Moscow, from where they flew to Minsk on a Belavia flight.
The evacuation of Belarusians from the Gaza Strip is the result of the work done by Belarusian foreign institutions and the consular service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross. They also provided serious assistance in this difficult situation. Ambassadors and diplomats had to do a colossal job to reunite the family. The events were attended by Belarusian embassies in four countries - Israel, Syria, Egypt and Russia. And this is another example of how Belarus always extends a helping hand, not leaving people in trouble.