Leonid Sudalenko: Belarusians Refuse To Listen To Lies
- 13.05.2026, 13:43
A human rights activist has revealed what is behind the regime's new campaign against "deadbeats".
"Slackers" continue to resist the regime's pressure. Why are Belarusians in no hurry to get a job, while the number of vacancies in the country continues to grow? With such a question the site Charter97.org turned to human rights activist and former political prisoner Leonid Sudalenko:
- The shortage of personnel, as I believe, is explained, among other things, by the large migration after 2020. A lot of people left Belarus. According to some estimates, more than a million people left the country. Moreover, the most active people - economically active people - left. I mean people in their 20s, 30s, 40s. These are not pensioners or children. Therefore, there is indeed a shortage of personnel in the country.
Why people are not in a hurry to return to work? I would say that one of the main reasons is low wages. Today everyone realizes that it is enough to move abroad, to Poland or Lithuania, and there the salaries will be several times higher.
Often one can hear from Belarusian doctors, who moved, for example, to Poland, that their salaries are very high there, if we compare them with Belarusian ones. But this applies not only to doctors. It also concerns drivers and ordinary workers. I mean that in Europe high earnings are available not only to specialists, but also to people of ordinary professions. By the way, it is quite easy for Belarusians to find a job in the EU countries and work there.
Another reason is the total control at enterprises, which exists today. It is both ideological attitudes and ideological pressure. People don't like it either. Today they have the Internet, they understand what is going on.
People understand whose Crimea is whose and who attacked Ukraine. They know the answers to these questions. And when an ideologue comes and tells you that Crimea is Russian, people realize that it's a lie. They don't want to hear it.
In addition, there is a fear of denunciations and inspections at enterprises. In order to survive, they will denounce you: a step to the left, a step to the right, subscribed to the wrong resource - and you will be immediately turned in. A criminal case can be instituted against a person at once.
Because this is coercive pressure, and loyalty will not come from it. The authorities are trying to force Belarusians to be loyal.
Because of all these factors, I think, people are not in a hurry to work for the state. They are looking for other opportunities to be independent and not to be controlled.
- Why is this fight against "deadbeats" so important for Lukashenko's regime and why does he involve all new forces in it?
- I think it's not economics. The fight against "deadbeats" is not about economics.
First of all, it is about controlling citizens. The state, of course, needs taxes and labor. But first of all it needs control over people.
Lukashenko was very scared in 2020. We saw his confusion, we saw everything that happened then. And now, of course, he is trying with all his might to prevent people from getting out of control again, as it was in 2020.