On 24 September 2026, media reported that students of the European Humanities University (EHU) who are in Belarus had begun facing restrictions on travelling abroad. The restrictions were reportedly imposed through written undertakings not to leave the country.
According to Belsat, several such cases are known, although the scale of the practice remains unclear. A report cited in the source material said the restrictions could affect students’ ability to study abroad.
In April 2026, Belarus’s Supreme Court designated EHU an “extremist organisation”. The source material says that, after the designation, security forces searched the homes of students, graduates and their relatives. By mid-August, human rights defenders were aware of more than 175 people who had been affected.
The Belarusian prosecutor’s office also warned that paying tuition fees to EHU could be interpreted as “financing extremist activity”, an offence carrying a possible prison sentence of up to five years.
The source material characterises these measures as part of a broader campaign by the administration of Alyaksandr Lukashenka against EHU and as pressure on young Belarusians seeking education abroad. It alleges that the restrictions are intended to prevent students from attending the university and to limit the spread of opposition views. These claims are presented as allegations; the available material does not establish the authorities’ stated rationale for each individual travel restriction.
