Remember: if you've donated, subscribed or protested since 2020, it's safer not to go.
Check yourself against wanted lists, 'extremist' lists and trials in absentia before going.
Take an ordinary phone with a safe history, prepared in advance.
Who helps (3) ↓Every organisation on this page has a designation: read the note on its card before writing.
Draft: not yet checked by a lawyerThe guides below are drafts: a lawyer has not reviewed them yet. This is not legal advice.
Draft What human rights defenders advise
Travelling to Belarus: the border and returning
Human rights groups usually advise checking yourself against the databases (wanted lists, 'extremist' lists, trials in absentia) and getting advice before you travel, e.g. from the BYSOL hotline. BYSOL is designated 'extremist' in Belarus, so contact it only from a device you will not take across the border. Not being listed guarantees nothing. If you have donated, subscribed or protested since 2020, it is safer not to go.
Donations, subscriptions, comments, neighbourhood chats and protests since 2020, including abroad, are all grounds for detention.
Phones are checked at the border almost every time. Refusing or travelling without a phone often means being turned back or checked harder, and an empty phone also raises questions. You need an ordinary phone with a safe history, prepared in advance. Spyware may be installed.
People are detained at every crossing, including the Russian border; most often on arrival from Lithuania.
Agree a check-in call with family in advance and keep your lawyer's contact on paper.
Designations of organisations in this guide: BYSOL Belarusian Solidarity Foundation (extremist in Belarus). Contacting them carries a risk: do not write from a phone that may be seized, and do not repost their materials.
In Belarus this organisation is designated 'extremist'. If you are in Belarus or will travel there, write to it only from a device you will not take across the border and that is not checked.
Money and fundraisers for political prisoners and their families, help with relocation, lawyers and medical care. The hotline can advise on risks before a trip.
The only official bot is @help_bysol. It never asks for money or SMS codes.
In Belarus this organisation is designated 'extremist'. If you are in Belarus or will travel there, write to it only from a device you will not take across the border and that is not checked.
Practical guides, including how to check whether a criminal case has been opened against you in Belarus and the limits of such checks.
Up to 5 free in-person sessions with a gestalt therapist in Warsaw for human rights defenders, activists, journalists, victims of repression and their families. Since 15 January 2026 the Belarusian KGB has designated the project an 'extremist formation'. Do not contact them from Belarus or pay from Belarusian cards.
In Belarus this organisation is designated 'extremist'. If you are in Belarus or will travel there, write to it only from a device you will not take across the border and that is not checked.