Belarusian journalist Aliaksandr Burakou arrived in Berlin from Moldova on June 4, where he had previously received refugee status. He was detained at passport control, explained that his surname was entered into SIS (a database for border control and security) as a person prohibited from entering EU and Schengen countries. The Belarusian Association of Journalists spoke with Aliaksandr Burakou while he is in a detention cell at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport.
Ales Burakou. Photo: BAJ
Aliaksandr Burakou previously had a 5-year ban on entering EU and Schengen countries. This year, it expired on March 2. According to the journalist, in April, he and a lawyer submitted an inquiry to the Czech police asking whether the ban had ended and if his name had been removed from the database. On April 13, the Czech police replied that the ban was no longer in effect. Therefore, Aliaksandr calmly flew to Germany.
"At passport control, they told me that I had no problems with my documents, except that my surname was in the Schengen SIS system. It turned out that on April 16 of this year, Poland entered my data into this system with an entry ban for another 5 years until April 16, 2031, with the wording that I pose a threat to Poland. During all this time, I have not entered Poland, as I am outside the European Union, although for the past 4 years we, with Polish lawyers, appealed the previous ban, also imposed by Poland, which we consider baseless," Burakou said.
Aliaksandr does not know the reason why Poland banned his entry again. The German side also has no explanations — they noted that they have no claims against the Belarusian and his documents — a biometric refugee passport issued by Moldova, and he could have entered Germany without a visa.
Burakou was planning to fly back to Chișinău on June 8. While in the detention room, he was given his phone and was able to book a new ticket for the next day, June 5, which cost more than the round-trip ticket purchased earlier. The journalist's passport will only be returned before departure.
In 2021, Aliaksandr Burakou learned that, despite a recently issued Polish visa, he was banned from entering Schengen countries until March 2, 2026.
According to the journalist, he first tried to figure out what he might have violated to fall under the Schengen entry ban. But for him, it remained a mystery: on March 2, 2021, he received a Polish humanitarian visa without problems, but he did not have time to use it, as there was a need to relocate to Lithuania.
When Aliaksandr submitted documents to the Lithuanian embassy two months later, it turned out that, at the initiative of the Polish side, he was included in the list of persons who pose a threat to the internal security of the Polish state. Although the journalist had not even entered Poland.
The reason, as Aliaksandr Burakou himself believes, could only be events from 20 years ago:
"In the mid-2000s, during journalistic activity, there was quite a serious conflict related to the use of money for equipment. This happened in Poland, and I authored a letter that we sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, which financed the project. It ended with the equipment being urgently purchased, but soon after, I was stopped at the border and my visa was also canceled."
At that time, Aliaksandr was banned from entering Poland for three years. But then the journalist received Schengen visas several times at the Lithuanian embassy, calmly crossed the border, and visited EU countries.
In the summer of 2025, Aliaksandr Burakou, through a lawyer, sought an explanation for the grounds on which the journalist was included in the SIS database (Schengen Information System, used for security measures) and access to the case materials to appeal the ban.
The Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw on July 9, 2025, ruled that the refusal to provide case materials for review was unlawful. But in the same month, he was again refused "on the grounds that the reasons for inclusion in SIS fall under specific points of legislation, where a foreigner does not have the right to review documents."
On December 29, 2025, lawyer Piotr Denishevsky received a response from the court confirming that the Office for Foreigners maintained its position and demanded the rejection of Burakou's complaint.
The Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw at the beginning of March 2026 ruled to dismiss the lawsuit in Burakou's case. The essence of the case, due to which the Belarusian journalist fell under the Schengen ban, remains a mystery.
The journalist left Belarus due to politically motivated persecution.
He worked as a freelancer for "Belsat", radio stations "Radio Racyja", Deutsche Welle, after the protest events of 2020 he was twice detained for his professional activities and sentenced to administrative arrests. In the detention center, Aliaksandr held a hunger strike in protest against the inhumane conditions of detention for prisoners.
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