Belarus

A Jan. 6 Capitol riot suspect wanted by the FBI was granted refugee status in Belarus

11:54am March 23, 2022

by Bill Chappell

Evan Neumann is under federal indictment in the U.S. for more than a dozen charges linked to last year's Capitol insurrection. Russian ally Belarus has granted him asylum and protection indefinitely.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov (left) shakes hands with Russian negotiators prior to talks between their countries' delegations amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Belarus' Brest region on March 3.

World News

Why Belarus is so involved in Russia's invasion of Ukraine

5:01am March 11, 2022

by Becky Sullivan

Although Belarus is not directly involved in combat in Ukraine, it does play a key role in Russia's war. Here's what to know.

U.S. charges Belarus officials with air piracy in reporter's arrest

8:42pm January 20, 2022

by The Associated Press

U.S. prosecutors say Belarusian officials diverted a flight to Minsk so they could arrest opposition activist and journalist Raman Pratasevich on charges of inciting riots against the government.

Blend, a Kurd from Iraq, considers himself lucky. He has only spent 14 days in a camp on the Belarusian side of the border and five days in the woods after crossing to the Polish side. When his kidney problems started to become unbearable because of lack

World News

This photographer captured how activists helped migrants at the Poland-Belarus border

10:48am January 03, 2022

Polish-based photographer Kasia Strek documented what it was like for migrants and people in Poland as the crisis evolved at the border in November.

Migrants aiming to cross into Poland camp near the Bruzgi-Kuznica border crossing on the Belarusian-Polish border on Nov. 17.

World News

Syrians say Belarus deported them even though they're wanted by Assad's regime

4:41pm December 24, 2021

After luring asylum-seekers to the EU as a political stunt, Belarus has now sent people back to the dangerous place they were escaping, rights groups and migrants tell NPR.

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New waves of Syrian migrants are fleeing postwar misery

9:19am December 21, 2021

by The Associated Press

While the numbers are far below the levels during the height of the civil war, the number of Syrians applying for asylum in the EU increased 70% over last year.

Migrants stay in a tent camp near the Bruzgi checkpoint on the Polish border, on Wednesday.

World News

How a political standoff trapped hundreds of migrants at the Belarus-Poland border

3:01pm November 17, 2021

by Scott Neuman

The crisis appears to be stoked by the leader of Belarus over the country's tensions with the bloc. Polish border guards have used water cannons and tear gas to turn back stone-throwing migrants.

A man holding a child wipes his eye as the Kurdish family from Dohuk in Iraq waits for the border guard patrol, near Narewka, Poland, near the Polish-Belarusian border on Nov. 9. The three-generation family of 16 — with seven minors, including the young

World News

Here's what it's like for migrants trapped between Belarus and Poland

2:00pm November 16, 2021

Thousands of migrants are camped along the border of Belarus and Poland, trapped between the countries. EU officials accuse Belarus of luring them across the border.

Raydel Aparicio Bringa (left) and Doniel Machado Pujol are photographed while being apprehended by Poland's Border Guard in the town of Sokolka, on the Polish border with Belarus. The two men, from Cuba, are among thousands of migrants from impoverished o

World News

Belarus' Lukashenko is accused of creating Europe's latest migration crisis

4:27pm October 12, 2021

by Rob Schmitz

Poland has stopped some 16,000 migrants crossing its border from Belarus since August, and accuses Belarus' authoritarian regime of facilitating illegal migration into the European Union.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko dismisses international criticism at a news conference Monday in Minsk. The U.S. and other countries announced new sanctions against Belarusian officials and Lukashenko's allies.

U.S. Expands Sanctions On Allies Of Belarus' Authoritarian Leader

7:03pm August 09, 2021

by James Doubek

The U.S., which accuses President Alexander Lukashenko of corruption and repression, imposes new sanctions on his financial backers on the one-year anniversary of an election widely considered rigged.