Estonia gives Belarusian students political refuge

More and more students are dismissed from schools in Belarus because of ideological conflicts. Estonia has so far accepted 15 students from the neighbouring state who have been expelled from universities due to political reasons. Numerous Estonian non-gov

The Assembly of Students Representatives, which unites 58 schools with Russian as the first language in Estonia, have appealed to the Minister of Education and Research, Tonis Lukas, to let a Belarusian student, Ivan Shilo, finish his studies in Estonia. The student was expelled from his school in Belarus due to political reasons.

Ivan Shilo is the deputy head of the pro-national youth organisation Mlady Front. He was expelled before one of his final exams for protesting against Russian being the main language in the country school system.  

Estonia has given him the chance to continue his education in the school with Russian as a primary language.

According to the assembly representative, it is important for the Belarusian opposition and student activists to feel the support and solidarity from other countries. 

Meantime, Estonian students have also faced consequences of their public activities.

One of Estonia’s schools is still considering the expulsion of one of its students for taking part in riots after relocating of the World War II monument for Soviet soldiers.