Conscription center: Belarusians hide in U.S.
Euroradio has contacted district conscription centers to find out how Belarusian youngstes dodge the mandatory military service.
“They are constantly on wanted lists. They go abroad to study somewhere, mainly in the United States. We restrict their foreign travel. When they return home, they will not be able to leave the country," an officer at the conscription center in Liakhavichy tells Euroradio.
When asked about the possibility of returning to the U.S. via the open border with Russia, the officer's voice gets less confident. No wonder, even political prisoners flee via the eastern border, leave alone the draft dodgers.
The same story about the escape to the U.S. is from the conscription center in Pruzhany. This year, they are looking for six "tourists."
“They travel abroad and fail to come to us to register. We have to team up with the police to look for them. Some also try to delay medical checks”.
Medical checks are delayed in the following way. After having a summons, a conscript arrives at the military enlistment office and complains about some "unclear pain in the chest" or "heart pains". Then he is referred for examination to a district hospital. Then, it is a matter of "forgetting" to pick the test results and to visit a doctor. The trick is repeated until the draft is finished. In six months, the procedure will be repeated as well.
The military says the number of dodgers ts small, and it does not really change.
"It is difficult to say. It changes a bit from year to year. This year, it is a bit less. Last year, there were more dodgers."
Two out of six conscription centers contacted by the Euroradio reporter said they had no dodging conscripts. The rest point to the same problem: fleeing to the U.S. and other Western countries. The fine is from Br 300,000 (approx. 30 Euro), but some can eventually end up behind bars.
Euroradio has also learned that young professionals employed by state-run enterprises and even schools are drafted reluctantly, because they are under protection of... the head of the state himself! As far back as in 2001, Lukashenka issued his edict, exempting from military service those heading to work at the Chernobyl-affected zone. The president's edicts also exempt the members of presidential orchestra, staffers at prosecutor's offices in several districts of the country and even one engineer who worked in Kastuykovichy district.
