BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

27/04/2009

Netherlands reaches deal over Chernobyl kids from Belarus

Belarusian children from the Chernobyl disaster area will once again be able to spend their summer vacation in the Netherlands.

* Feature - No more Dutch vacations for Chernobyl kids

The Dutch foreign ministry has reached an agreement with Belarus to allow children from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster area to spend their summer vacations in the Netherlands. The Belarus government last year issued a travel ban for the Chernobyl children after two children applied for asylum during their stay in Italy and the US.

Three private organisations in the Netherlands have been organising summer vacations for Chernobyl kids for the past twenty years. On April 26, 1986 an explosion at the nuclear power plant in Ukraine released radiation over large areas of Ukraine and Belarus. Many children in the area are still getting sick; some of them get cancer.

The summer vacations in Western countries are meant to let the children regain their strength in a healthy environment. Every year some 30,000 children from the Chernobyl area spend their summer vacation in 21 different countries.

Last year the Belarus government issued a travel ban for all children except those who have cancer already. The government fears that many children would apply for asylum in the host countries and not return to Belarus. The agreement with the Netherlands reinstates the summer vacations for an undetermined period.

Source:

http://www.nrc.nl/international/article2224849.ece/Netherlands_reaches_deal_over_Chernobyl_kids_from_Belarus

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