Illegal migration

Illegal migration is the entry into the country, stay on its territory, transit through the territory of the state, or departure from the republic committed in violation of the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

Illegal migration poses a threat to public and national security, economic stability, and contributes to the complication of the crime situation.

For the Republic of Belarus, the illegal transit of migrants through our territory is relevant.

In order to protect national security, as well as to regulate migration flows, a system of normative legal acts has been created in the Republic of Belarus, forming migration legislation. Many of these normative legal acts contain measures to counter illegal migration.

Of significant importance in the aspect under consideration is the Law of the Republic of Belarus No. 105-Z of 04.01.2010 "On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens and Stateless Persons in the Republic of Belarus". This Law provides for a significant tightening of the procedure for entry, stay, and departure from the country of certain categories of foreign citizens and stateless persons: cases of restriction of foreigners' rights to freedom of movement are defined; a migration card has been introduced in the Republic of Belarus, which a foreigner must fill out upon entry into the Republic of Belarus; the list of grounds for refusal of entry into the Republic of Belarus or departure from the country has been expanded; three regimes of stay for foreigners in the state have been introduced (temporary stay (up to 90 days per year), temporary residence (up to 1 year), and permanent residence; grounds for refusal to extend or shorten the period of temporary stay of foreigners in the Republic of Belarus have been established; grounds for obtaining a temporary residence permit have been specified; grounds for expulsion of foreigners, etc. have been determined.

A number of resolutions have been adopted by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus, which regulate in detail the legal status of foreign citizens and stateless persons in the Republic of Belarus: on January 19, 2006, Resolution No. 63 approved the Rules for transit passage of foreign citizens and stateless persons through the territory of the Republic of Belarus; on January 20, 2006, Resolution No. 73 approved the Rules for stay of foreign citizens and stateless persons in the Republic of Belarus (as amended by the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of July 9, 2010 No. 1030); on February 3, 2006, Resolution No. 145 approved the List of places and objects for entry into and stay in which foreign citizens and stateless persons require a special permit, as well as organizations authorized to issue such permits, etc.

The current legislation provides for a system of administrative or criminal legal measures against illegal migrants or persons involved in the process of illegal migration.

In the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offenses, two main norms can be identified that are aimed at protecting the existing migration order: Article 23.29 (illegal crossing of the State Border of the Republic of Belarus) and Article 23.55 (violation of the rules of stay in the Republic of Belarus, as well as the rules of transit passage (transit) through the territory of the Republic of Belarus).

The procedure for crossing the State Border for all categories of persons is regulated in detail by the Law of the Republic of Belarus of July 21, 2008 No. 419-Z (as amended on January 9, 2019) "On the State Border of the Republic of Belarus".

The movement of an illegal migrant across the State Border of the Republic of Belarus can also be grounds for criminal liability under Article 371 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (illegal crossing of the State Border of the Republic of Belarus) or under Article 3711 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (organization of illegal migration).

For committing crimes provided for by Articles 371 and 371¹ of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, the maximum penalty is imprisonment for up to seven years with or without confiscation of property.

Prosecutor of the Department for Supervision
over the Enforcement of Legislation
of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus
for the Vitebsk Region V. Yakovlev

Deputy Head for Supervision
over Inquiry and Operational-Search Activities V. Rudenkov