Former Political Prisoner Yury Rubtsou Applied For Asylum In Germany

Yury Rubtsou is waiting for the decision on political asylum in Nuremberg.

“We keep in contact through Facebook, but very rare. And we started writing not long ago, when they managed to buy a tablet and wrote to us. They have informed they stay in a refugee camp in Nuremberg, and that conditions are bearable there, they are living together, in a separate room, they are free all day long, they can walk around the city. They attend German language courses, that is, they are getting ready for receiving an asylum. First parents arrived to Frankfurt, it was in October, before the “elections.” They applied for asylum, and they were transferred from Frankfurt several times, they had to change several camps. My father has written that they had also hard conditions, they lived in tents, in a sports hall. The situation with refugees in Germany is difficult now, as there are many refugees from Syria, but the situation in Nuremberg has improved,” – Viktar Rubtsou said to Radio Svaboda.

The Rubtsous have left a house in Homel. Yury and Yadzviga started to is when the political prisoner was released from the penal colony. Then Yury Rubtsou said that he was not going to leave Belarus. Viktar explained the decision of his father to seek asylum in Germany by the fact that he was denied employment everywhere in Homel.

“He was discharged from his former work, driver training center, where he had been working as a driving instructor, though he was considered a good expert, they sent a positive employer's reference to the court. And he was not employed anywhere, and moreover, they refused to register him as an unemployed. There is a rule at the employment agency that one should try to work where one had been offered. He determinedly visited all those places, but everywhere the situation was the same – he was denied work as soon as they realized who he was. It lasted until October, and then they probably decided to leave,” – Viktar Rubtsou said.

Viktar says that he is not going to leave Belarus so far:

“I live in the house of my parents, I am trying to finish construction which had not been finished by my parents. From time to time I work where I can find employment, but it is very difficult now in Homel,” – the son of Yury Rubtsou noted.

Earlier Viktar Rubtsou planned to go to Russia to earn some money, but he changed his mind as the economic conditions there have deteriorated:

“Our people are coming back from Russia. They say wages have become lower, and they are often deceived, not paid, cheated. One only spends money on travel and accommodation, and earns nothing.”

As said by Viktar Rubtsou, the question of granting asylum to his parents should be decided in about half a year.