Illusions about life in Europe - how careers of fugitives in Lithuania and Poland developed

Fugitives from Belarus were looking for the paradise gardens of Warsaw and Vilnius, but got bureaucracy, problems with employment, ruined careers and hatred from the locals. Statistics record sexism, an increase in crimes against Belarusians, even small ones. The harsh reality that the fugitives faced was described in the "Katyusha Calculation" project.

There is a research center BEROC with a very biased attitude towards Belarus, it published figures that are interesting to pay attention to.

172 Belarusians living in Lithuania and Poland took part in the online survey. Did they manage to maintain their careers after moving? Let us recall that Lithuania and Poland were inviting high-class specialists from Belarus to the country.

Trade, advertising, marketing and design workers, architecture workers, as well as engineers and teachers, cannot realize themselves in emigration.

Another study was conducted by the extremist organization Belarusian Association of Journalists. They studied the problems of their so-called colleagues - they talked to 211 journalists aged 25 to 55. Two had attempted suicide, and two more were diagnosed with depression.

Almost 50% of people experience psychological problems, almost 40% - a language barrier, 35% - health problems, and 28% of respondents lacked health insurance. In other words, even this picture shows the promises or illusions that existed before moving to Poland and Lithuania, and the reality that had to be faced - two completely opposite things.

In fact, the reality is that the standard of living has fallen, the income has decreased compared to life in Belarus.

"When people move here, they often face physical and not very highly paid work. When you start living here, you give most of your salary to rent, utilities, travel," noted a girl from a European country.

Poland and Lithuania are currently experiencing serious demographic problems. The economy has almost completely exhausted its labor resources. Polish companies are increasingly facing problems when hiring employees. The main influx of workers were Belarusians and Ukrainians. However, this influx has noticeably dissipated. Economists believe that the situation may worsen even more. The potential for emigration from countries with a similar cultural past, in particular Ukraine and Belarus, has dried up. The reason, by the way, from the point of view of Belarusian immigrants, is disappointment between expectations and reality.

In order to solve problems, our neighbors use soft power mechanisms. There are centers that for many years, using grants from foreign funds, have been luring Belarusian specialists to Poland and Lithuania for labor immigration: these are doctors and teachers. That is, on the one hand, they underestimate the importance of specialists in Belarus, and on the other, they allegedly show the value of these same specialists, but already in Vilnius and Warsaw.

People move, for example, doctors. However, in Poland they will need not an anesthesiologist, but an orderly.

Sergey, anesthesiologist:

"When we came there to work without residence permit we were offered to work as hospital attendants. And all this went on for quite a long time. Personally, I waited for the residence permit for 9 or 10 months. There were such periods, of course, that it was very offensive." 

"They are probably afraid of us. We have excellent education, we have great equipment, exactly the same as the hospital where we work," noted anesthesiologist Svetlana. "This hospital doesn't even have Certain things that we have in Belarus. And they are afraid of all of this. They are afraid that we will take their jobs, that we can work better than them. We can work more than them."

Cases of violence against Belarusians in Poland are also becoming widespread. In November, a Pole attacked two Belarusians in a cafe. First, he knocked them down, and then pulled out a cleaver. The cafe employees didn't even call the police. The Belarusians called the police themselves, but they were advised to go to the place where migrants' problems are resolved. In the center of Bialystok, Poland, a 16-year-old teenager from Belarus was beaten unconscious. Moreover, this is a common occurrence in Bialystok. A year ago, a group of Poles beat a Belarusian while shouting "Get out of the country!"

Perhaps the most horrific incident took place right in the center of Warsaw. A Belarusian woman was raped and strangled. No one intervened, and the Pole tortured his victim for a long time. There is no future in Belarus, write various centers, often extremist ones. However, they get paid for this. Someone then runs to the gardens of Eden in Warsaw and Vilnius and becomes, alas, not even a second-class person.