Many Belarusians Are Unjustly Labeled As 'Parasites'

Those who should not be there are included in the database.

In Minsk and the regions — for example, in Barysau and Vaulkavysk – the police are quite actively involved in searching for "dependents" and their employment. Meanwhile, "parasite" commissions continue to operate throughout the country — they have drawn up work schedules for the first quarter. One of their tasks is to remove from the database those not employed in the economy who were included there by mistake.

We tell you about fresh examples of how those who should not be there ended up as "dependents", writes "Zerkalo".

"Parasites" are now paying full rates for some housing and communal services — heating, hot water and gas. The cost of the first two services for "dependents" is almost 5.5 times higher than for the rest of the population.

At the same time, officials have not abandoned the idea of introducing restrictions on free medical care for "parasites".

In the Berestovitsky district, at the end of January, at a meeting of the commission for coordinating work to promote employment of the population, four people were excluded from the "parasite" database.

"The commission reviewed four applications from citizens with a request to recognize them as "employed in the economy". Among the applicants are citizens working in the Russian Federation, a mother raising a minor child, a citizen wishing to produce goods on his land," the commission reported. "Having studied the submitted documents, the commission satisfied all the applications and recognized these citizens as employed in the economy."

In Vaulkavysk, Belarusian women with children under 7 years old, as well as those who officially work in Belarus and Russia, were also included in the database. At one of the last meetings of the "parasite" commission, these people were excluded from the list of "dependents".

Belarusian women who are raising a child under seven or who have three or more minor children should not be included in this database. The exception is those who were outside the country for more than 30 days during one quarter (but if this was a trip abroad for treatment or health improvement, then they are not included in the "parasites"). A similar requirement exists for those who are engaged in crop production or livestock farming on their land: such an activity exempts them from "parasitism" (but this land must be located outside the capital and regional cities), but such people cannot be absent from Belarus for a total of more than 30 days during one quarter.

As previously reported, some "parasite" commissions hold their meetings in the district police departments. It even gets to the point that such commissions, together with the police, go around the apartments of "dependents" with "raids".

Previously, the police proposed returning the article for parasitism, as in the times of the USSR. This idea was voiced by the Department of Internal Affairs of the Grodno Regional Executive Committee.

Recall that on January 21 of this year, Aliaksandr Lukashenka said that it is necessary to more actively attract those who are not working to the labour market. And in November 2024, the dictator said that there should be no "homeless people and parasites" in Belarus.

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