Polish court canceled the transfer date to Belarus for a seven-year-old boy with international protection

Ales, cared for by Hanna Kanavalava, and whom Poland wanted to transfer to Belarus. Photo: Hanna Kanavalava / Facebook

Seven-year-old Ales, who is cared for by Hanna Kanavalava, mother of former political prisoner Antanina Kanavalava, was supposed to be handed over to his biological father in Belarus on June 27. However, the Polish court canceled the transfer date, wrote Hanna Kanavalava on Facebook, reported "Belsat".

The court reviewed the appeal filed by the child's guardian. Hanna Kanavalava expressed her gratitude to human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, public organizations, friends, "acquainted and unacquainted people who wrote, called, spread information, and helped in all possible ways."

In her post, the Belarusian woman mentioned Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the head of the NAU, Deputy Head of the United Transitional Cabinet Pavel Latushka, lawyer Hanna Matsieuskaya, journalist Iryna Khalip, the Polish Ombudsman for Children's Rights, and the organizations Amnesty International Polska, Helsińska Fundacja Praw Człowieka.

"This victory belongs to all of us who believe. There is still a struggle ahead, but our little one remains home, next to the people he considers his family. Together we achieved what seemed almost impossible just a few days ago," wrote Hanna Kanavalava.

Previously, the Warsaw court ruled to hand over a seven-year-old boy from Belarus, who lives in a foster family in Poland, to his biological father, who is in Minsk. The boy has international protection, which prohibits his deportation to his homeland.

Ales, along with his mother and elder half-brother Yawhen, who was 14 at the time, arrived in Poland from Belarus in 2021 after the protests. The family received international protection in Poland.

Polish welfare authorities quickly learned about the woman's alcohol and drug addictions, as well as her involvement in prostitution, and removed the children from the family. They were adopted by another Belarusian — pensioner Hanna Kanavalava, who previously worked as a furniture salesperson and now lives in the Mokotów district of Warsaw. She was caring for two grandchildren aged 6 and 8 while their mother, Antanina Kanavalava, convicted on political grounds, was serving her sentence in Belarus.

At the time of adoption in 2023, the younger Ales, who was four years old, did not know how to use the toilet, spoke poorly, and was addicted to TikTok. In 2024, his biological mother died of an overdose.

In August 2023, Ales's biological father, Siarhei, who had previously been sentenced to nine years in a penal colony for drug trafficking, contacted the family. After Hanna helped Siarhei obtain a visa for Poland, he began visiting Ales approximately once a month. He spent time with his son and brought him gifts, but the following year he lost his visa, and their communication was limited to phone calls, which, according to Hanna, also occurred no more than once a month.

Then the man decided to return the child to Belarus and appealed to the court in Warsaw. In March 2026, the court ruled to hand over the child to the father. The judges ruled that the minor's interests "are primarily realized through upbringing by his own parent."

Meanwhile, the human rights foundation Partyzanka notes that the child received international protection in Poland precisely because of the risk of returning to Belarus, and therefore cannot return there. Lawyers say that "if the [Belarusian] regime wants to use the child for propaganda purposes, it will do so, even if the father resists."

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