Natalia Dulina — about the annulled passport, victory over bureaucracy, and the first year in Vilnius

Natalia Dulina. Photo: lookby.media

Ex-associate professor at MSLU Natalia Dulina told "Salidarnasts" that she learned about her blue passport being declared invalid almost by accident.

— The alarm bells started ringing this year, but at first, I didn't pay much attention to them. There was no urgent need, I didn't know where to look, and I had long been used to solving problems as they arose.

And recently, literally last month, I spoke on the phone with one of the girls released in December, and she asked: "What's up with your passport?" I said, "I have no idea." She sent me a link to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) website — and it turned out that "document number such-and-such is invalid."

To check, I entered the passport numbers of several close people who have no connection to our expulsion story — their documents are valid.

A little later in a conversation, our human rights defenders confirmed: practically all of us who were forcibly taken out of Belarus to other countries are here with annulled passports.

That is, in June 2025, they took all our sentences, all our documents, and only gave us our passports. And then, with a retroactive date, they made those invalid too.

Natalia Dulina adds that she recently received a Lithuanian residence permit and has already traveled across Europe with it numerous times. However, on the advice of lawyers, to avoid potential problems both within and outside the EU, she submitted documents to obtain a foreigner's passport.

However, there's also good news — Natalia managed to restore her pension. This is truly a rare and illustrative case of a long struggle against a system built on formal replies, officials shifting responsibility, and buck-passing.

"From the colony, everything down to the last penny was transferred to my account"

— We were taken out through the KGB pre-trial detention center, not directly from the colonies, — reminds Natalia Dulina. — And naturally, no release certificates, no money was issued; moreover, all our personal legal documents and papers were confiscated.

But even when I was in the colony, people from the local Gomel branches of the Social Protection Fund would visit us from time to time and explain the mechanism for what to do after release. That one needs to come with a certificate to the Social Protection Fund at their place of residence; they send a request to the Gomel social services, from where the pension file is forwarded, and money is transferred to our pension account.

Soon after we were taken out, my mother came to my apartment and saw papers sticking out of the door from the inspectorate, where we were supposed to report after release.

It said I needed to appear urgently. She went there (and she, by the way, had a general power of attorney in my name, which was issued while I was still in captivity).

They asked: "Why didn't I register?" My mother said: "What, aren't you aware, don't you read the news?" And she vividly described to them what had happened. The employees were very surprised.

In connection with this, they explained that I don't have preventive supervision (which is an unpleasant thing, almost like "house arrest," where you are constantly watched), but only prophylactic supervision (meaning, you have to report to the inspectorate from time to time). But they couldn't help with the release certificate, as it wasn't within their competence — "write letters to the colony."

The women heard or read this phrase — "not within our competence" — multiple times in letters for more than half a year. The colony did not respond at all to Natalia's letter (which was sent from the territory of Belarus, with a delivery notification).

The Department of Execution of Punishments also did not respond to the appeal.

And the special department of the Gomel colony stated outright: "we know nothing, according to our data, Dulina was transferred to the KGB pre-trial detention center, and whether she has been released or not, we are not aware."

A personal visit to the Department of Execution of Punishments (DEP) also yielded nothing: the duty officer stated that no letters had been received. The Gomel court refused to consider the complaint — "not within our competence" (meaning, the actions of the DEP administration and the colony are not subject to judicial review, "do what you want with it"). Lukashenka's Administration also replied that the matter was not within their competence, "contact the MIA." And only the Social Protection Fund (SPF) was accommodating and sent a request to the colony to find out what was happening.

…After six months of correspondence and visits to the "authorities," a release certificate could not be obtained. Natalia Dulina believes they "don't want to or can't" issue it; perhaps this document simply doesn't exist.

But the persistence of the Belarusian women eventually paid off: almost miraculously, they managed to process the pension case and not only restore pension payments for these six months but also withdraw from the colony's accounts the money that had been transferred to her before release but which she wasn't allowed to send to her relatives.

— For some time, it was possible to do this, then "political prisoners" were forbidden from sending money home, and I tried to find out what was going on during a meeting with the deputy head of the colony, — recalls Natalia. — He asks: "Are you an 'extremist' or a 'terrorist'?" "Extremist," I said. "Oh, well, write another application." They allowed it again — but a couple of months before the so-called release, they forbade it again.

As a result — all this accumulated money, every last penny, was transferred to my account. And since February of this year, my mother has been receiving my pension in Belarus.

Not so long ago, in Lithuania, where I started individual entrepreneurial activity, at a seminar for sole proprietors, an expert said that Lithuania has bilateral agreements on social security with Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, and Canada. And one can submit an application to SODRA (Lithuanian State Social Insurance Fund Board) stating that you are a pensioner — the pension can be transferred to Lithuania, and health insurance (today it's a little over 80 euros) will be free.

The Lithuanian agency has sent a request to Belarus. I don't know how long it will take; I'm currently waiting for the results.

"Went to volunteer at a cat shelter"

— A year has passed since you were released, albeit in a very peculiar way. What was this year like for you: what succeeded, what didn't, and can you say you've adapted to emigration?

— I spent this year quite well; I did a lot. I'm already renting an apartment. As soon as I received my documents, I opened a bank account and registered my place of residence in Vilnius. I registered as a sole proprietor — now I can engage in teaching activities: courses, tutoring, and also write books and articles.

There was a thing, in January I suddenly broke my leg, and I hadn't received my documents at that time. I had to go to a private clinic. But, thank God, there were organizations that provided assistance and paid these bills — a huge thank you to them; without this support, it would have been quite difficult, of course.

And now I'm going to the polyclinic myself in a few days; I'll quietly resolve current health issues.

There are also issues with work: teaching is such a thing, today there are students, and tomorrow there aren't; some cannot afford lessons, others' plans change. In short, I've already encountered this: when I was fired in Belarus, I was doing exactly the same thing, tutoring, as a self-employed person.

Plus, I signed up for a swimming pool and went to Zumba (I had dreamed of this even in Minsk, I really liked intensive dance workouts).

And quite recently, I fulfilled another dream of mine. I went to volunteer at a cat shelter. I feed them, clean up after them, interact with them. This was very much missing, to be honest. For me, it's not only a way to be useful but also psychological support — because cats remained at home, my family looks after them and everything is fine there, but I really miss contact with animals.

Павялічыць

Drawing by Natalia Dulina, made during her imprisonment

I travel occasionally. For the first time in many years, I visited Italy twice not for work or study, but as a tourist. I was in Poland several times: at the "New Belarus" conference, at the congress of political prisoners.

Summing up — I don't see anything terrible in emigration today, although there are quite a few challenges. Maybe it's because I worked for many years, accomplished a lot, and realized myself, so I view this calmly, without drama. At the same time, I understand young people who have a career and education ahead of them, and perhaps this causes difficulties (financial, with documents, etc.).

In general, emigration in the 21st century has become, if one can say so, a natural phenomenon; you can live and work wherever you want.

However, we have a big "but": we cannot come to Belarus if we want to. We lack the most important thing, for which the Belarusian authorities committed a crime by expelling us from the country.

And if before, theoretically, we could come and go straight from the border to prison — then now, without a passport, you can't even cross the border. And if our passports were annulled — what prevents them from quietly stripping us of citizenship? But at the same time, they cannot take Belarus from us, they cannot take away the solidarity of Belarusians with one another, no matter what they do.

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