Poland moves to deport mother of journalist Katsiaryna Vadanosava

Pol­ish author­i­ties have ordered the depor­ta­tion of the moth­er of Belaru­sian jour­nal­ist Kat­siary­na Vadanosa­va, despite her poor health and fam­i­ly ties in Poland.

Kat­siary­na Vadanosa­va with her moth­er. Cour­tesy pho­to

Vadanosa­va wrote on Face­book that bor­der offi­cials deliv­ered a notice to her 74-year-old moth­er on Octo­ber 1, stat­ing she would be deport­ed to Lithua­nia on Octo­ber 6.

More than a year ago, KGB agents came to the woman’s home in Belarus, trig­ger­ing a heart attack. Because of her frag­ile health, Vadanosa­va sought ways to get her moth­er out of the coun­try. Lithua­nia even­tu­al­ly grant­ed a visa, and with help from human rights groups, she trav­eled to Poland and applied for asy­lum. Pol­ish author­i­ties reject­ed the request, insist­ing she return to Lithua­nia as the coun­try that issued her visa.

The fam­i­ly appealed twice and is now wait­ing for a court hear­ing sched­uled for Octo­ber 28. Despite this, depor­ta­tion pro­ce­dures have already begun.

Vadanosa­va says her moth­er, a wid­ow with no rel­a­tives in Lithua­nia, suf­fers from mul­ti­ple seri­ous health con­di­tions and relies entire­ly on her fam­i­ly in Poland.

“I can­not send my moth­er to Lithua­nia. I fear for her health every day. She has no one but us… Exhaus­tion, despair, bit­ter­ness, hor­ror is what I feel,” Vadanosa­va wrote.