About fifty young Belarusians gathered together in front of UN headquarters in New York and held a mournful meeting to commemorate the anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

Belarusian Youth Movement of America  
 
Belarusian Chernobyl today
 
Experts estimate the damage caused to the environment and the people in more than 230 billion dollars. However, present Belarusian leadership deliberately chooses not to notice the grave Chernobyl consequences dooming Belarusians to physical extermination.
 
That accident played a significant role in our lives. Everyone who lives in Belarus now, who was born and has been living in the country after that black day for our nation on April 26 continue to suffer from health problems related to the catastrophe. After 1986 heart disease, cancer increased significantly. The number of sick people is growing with every year.

Nevertheless the current authorities of the country hide from discussing the problems of Chernobyl and its possible solutions.  
 
The Belarusian authorities assign young specialists (college and university graduates) to different positions in the contaminated areas. The authorities have also begun the process of privilege and social benefit cancelation for the Chernobyl disaster liquidators. Little by little the contaminated land is being cultivated again. With every year the Belarusians as a nation are dying out. Those who dare to talk about Chernobyl problems are being pursued. The most famous example: Professor of Gomel State Medical University Yury Bandazhewski. The main Belarusian specialist who studied low dose radiation and its health effects in the 90s was imprisoned on trumped-up reasons, becoming a prisoner of conscience.
 
– It is obvious to anyone, even a little familiar with radiation that none of these actions of the authorities can improve the health of Belarusians and favor better future for Belarus.
 
Moreover, now at the highest level of power practically without asking the people it is decided to build a new nuclear power plant in Belarus, the station will be built in one of the cleanest regions of the country - not far from Braslau Lakes.
 
Chernobyl rally near UN headquarters
 
The rally organized by the Belarusian Movement in America brought together the younger generation of Belarusians, and people with rich life experience.
 
For the majority of young people the Chernobyl accident is the diseases of friends, relatives, acquaintances, and just common Belarusians. Ales Vinakurau and Ilya Kunitsky reminded to those present at the meeting the consequences of the Chernobyl tragedy, its social, economic and human costs.

This date must not be forgotten, though the present regime attempts to.  
 
Mikola Saganovich remembers that day clearly. He recollected the events of April 26, 1986 and the first days after the tragedy when everything possible was done to avert the people's attention from what happened, to try to close their eyes and ears.

 
The government knew very well the scale of the disaster, but thousands of children across the country took part in May Day parades. The doctors were prohibited to diagnose cancer. Everyone was told that nothing serious happened and the West unnecessarily heated the atmosphere around the accident.

Lina Saganovich read the poem "Chernobyl" by Catherine Yakimenko from Volkovysk, written when the author was only fourteen years old.

Chernobyl. This is a word everyone knows.
Time heals, but that scar keeps hurting... 
 
Chernobyl rally near the UN building in New York ended with the traditional singing of the hymn "God Almighty".
 
The Belarusian Youth Movement of America is grateful to all who took part in the rally and invite everyone to our future meetings. To keep updated, please subscribe to our mailing list. Send your emails using our contact form.