Alexey left Belarus after a meeting with a KGB officer who threatened him and offered him cooperation. In Poland, the student was denied international protection, and in order to pay for legal assistance and file an appeal, he went into serious debt.
My name is Alexey Pavlyukov, and I am 22 years old. In Belarus, I studied at the Belarusian State Medical University under a targeted education programme from the Ministry of Emergency Situations. During my studies, I did not hide my attitude toward what was happening in Belarus and openly told my fellow students that we were being lied to at meetings with the ideology officer.
After that, in the summer of 2023, a KGB officer came to see me to “just have a talk.” He began asking me about politics, shouting, and threatening me. Somehow, he had found out about my sexual orientation (only a couple of people knew that I was gay) and threatened to use it against me. He installed something on my phone, having downloaded all the data beforehand (I had subscriptions to extremist resources). At the end, the security official said that he would come again soon and hoped for “cooperation.”
I did not wait for the second meeting and immediately started arranging a visa for Poland. After emigrating, I managed to enrol in the Kalinouski Programme, learn the language, and take Polish final exams in order to enter a Polish university.
But my problem is that I did not apply for international protection immediately – after arriving in Poland, I did not trust people working in government institutions and was afraid of being judged or having my experiences dismissed. When I finally submitted my documents after consulting with lawyers, I received a rejection after 20 months of waiting.
I want to stay in Poland; moreover, I am afraid to return to Belarus because of the threat of repression (whether because of being LGBTQ or because of political activity). So I had to seek legal assistance in order to file an appeal. This had to be done urgently, and I went into debt.
That is why I am asking for help to repay the money – the cost of legal services is simply unaffordable for me as a student. I just want to live and study without fear.
Fundraising goal
€1500 – legal assistance expenses