Belarus to ban debtors from foreign travel

A black list of those banned from leaving Belarus is expected to be created by September 1. The people who have debts following the court verdicts or have been criminally prosecuted will be entered in the database.

The officials in possession of the state secrets, essential for the national security of Belarus, will also be suspended from travel.

For example, the leader of the opposition, Aliaksandr Milinkevich, was fined for allegedly attempting to cross the Belarusian border, using his son’s passport. He refused to pay the fine, thus, having outstanding dues with the court. Correspondingly, he could potentially be banned from foreign travel, too.

The database of the people temporarily banned from traveling abroad is also needed in order to abolish the permissive stamp in passports in order to cross the border. The Constitutional Court of Belarus has issued a decision to phase out the stamp by December 31, 2007.

Last year, 600,000 Belarusians applied to the immigration authorities for a permit to travel abroad. Over 800 applications were rejected.