Belarus bans children's trips

Published: Friday, August 15, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, August 15, 2008 at 8:18 a.m.
Belarus on Thursday halted youth humanitarian trips to the United States following a furor that unfolded when a teenager visiting Petaluma for the summer refused to go home.



Tanya KazyraCRISTA JEREMIASON / The Press Democrat 16-year-old from Borisov, Belarus, wants to stay in Petaluma with the host family she has visited for nine summers.The ban on travel for respite programs for children living in the path of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster will affect about 1,400 young people nationwide, hosting organizations said.

"It's what we feared from the beginning," said Rosey Erickson, president of Petaluma-based Chernobyl Children's Project, which brought 16-year-old Tanya Kazyra and 24 other children to the North Bay in June.

She criticized Manuel and Debra Zapata of Petaluma, who have been sponsoring Kazyra's visits the past nine summers and encouraged her refusal to return to her home in Borisov, Belarus. Kazyra remained at the Zapatas' eastside home Thursday.

"It is what we have tried feverishly to avoid by taking necessary steps to facilitate Tanya's safe and expeditious return to her grandma in Belarus," Erickson said.

Oleg Kravchenko, chargé d'affaires at the Belarus Embassy in Washington, said that barring a guarantee from the United States that a similar incident won't happen again, all such trips are stopped.

"When an agreement is concluded, the trips may be recommended again," Kravchenko said. "For now, all trips are prohibited."

A spokeswoman for the State Department's European affairs bureau confirmed the travel ban. It did not appear the action would have broader diplomatic repercussions, she said.

Relations between the United States and the former Soviet country already are strained, she said.

It was the first case of its kind in the country since programs began in 1991, said Cecelia Calhoun, Belarus liaison for the national Children of Chernobyl U.S. Alliance. A family in Italy tried to keep a child in 2006.

She said the Zapatas appear to have jeopardized what has been a beneficial experience for thousands of children and dashed the hopes of families seeking to reunite with them.

"It's very unfortunate that this Petaluma family has decided to keep this girl and for Tanya not to return home," Calhoun said. "Certainly, it will have an impact on all the other Belarusian children who have enjoyed health respites. They may no longer get to do that."

A lawyer for the family and Kazyra called the decision punitive and unnecessary.

Immigration attorney Christopher Kerosky said Kazyra has a legal right to remain in the country as well as permission from her grandmother, who is her guardian.

He said she would continue to pursue an extension of her visa, which expires in December.

"I would just say the family believes it's a shame if the Belarusian government takes any actions against existing or future programs for young children based on the decision of one girl," Kerosky said. "It's a shame and a tragedy, and there's no reason for it."

The Zapatas didn't return calls and Kazyra didn't respond to a request for comment. But Ashley Zapata, the 18-year-old daughter of the host family, said the Belarusian response was wrong.

"It's like a game to them," Zapata said. "They want to win the game."

The Chernobyl Children's Project was founded five years after the 1986 disaster, which spread contamination across the Ukrainian border into Belarus. It is one of about 40 similar organizations in the United States.

Children visit for six weeks each summer and stay with families who provide medical checkups and share American culture.

Kazyra visited the Zapatas nine summers and was in her last year of eligibility.

She has called the Zapatas her "true family" and said her Belarusian parents were abusive. The Zapatas have said Kazyra might attend school in Petaluma this fall but have no plans beyond that.

However, Belarus officials and hosting organizations said she was obligated to return with her group on Aug. 5.

Her failure to show up for a flight at San Francisco International Airport touched off an international brouhaha. Belarusian and U.S. officials converged last week on the Petaluma Police Department, where they interviewed the family and Kazyra about her intentions. Russian-language TV crews reported to audiences half a world away.

The Belarusian Embassy officials said Thursday that although Kazyra has approval from her grandmother to stay in the United States, she cannot do so because she is a minor and was granted a visa on condition she return.

Kravchenko said he sent letters to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, and Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, urging their help in getting her home.

Woolsey did not return calls Thursday.

He said another envoy, the Belarusian minister of foreign affairs, was on his way to Petaluma this weekend to try to convince Kazyra to change her mind.

"We want her to come back," he said. "If she returns, she will not be subject to any persecution and she can return to the U.S. after she has her documents processed and receives a proper visa."

If Kazyra remains in Petaluma, future youth trips will be halted until the United States signs an agreement that it will be responsible for returning the visitors, Kravchenko said.

Belarus made the same demand of Italy two years ago. The travel ban was lifted in months, Kravchenko said.

"A person cannot solve his or her immigration aspirations by coming to the U.S. in this type of group," Kravchenko said.

Michelle Carter, author of the book "Children of Chernobyl, Raising Hope from the Ashes," said the summer trips get children away from harmful radiation found in such things as fruit and milk that can cause cancer and other diseases. The goal is to give the children's immune systems a chance to recover, she said.

But she said as the last totalitarian government in Europe, Belarus does not like the Western influence on its children and has stood in the way of her efforts to bring cancer medicine into the country.

In an ongoing dispute with the United States, it ejected a number of U.S. officials from the embassy in March and recently made it difficult for its citizens to travel to the United States.

She said the Petaluma incident could only make matters worse. She questioned whether children would ever be permitted to come to the country again.

"The situation with Belarus and the U.S. is so tenuous right now that this in fact may be the end," Carter said. "They may have found the opportunity to say, 'No more.' "

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 762-7297 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com.


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