Interpellation on the ban on the return of Haŭryla Kostsevich

From the deputies of the Belarusian Club to the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, concerning the government's failure to recognize the civil rights of Belarusians who are citizens of Poland and are temporarily outside its borders.

On the basis of the Treaty of Versailles (Arts. 3 and 4), Poland undertook to recognize as its citizens the Belarusians who are permanent residents of the territories that form part of the Republic.

Unfortunately, this Treaty has remained merely signed, and the Polish Government has no intention at all of fulfilling the obligations that follow from the Treaty of Versailles.

Here is the case of Haŭryla Kostsevich, a permanent resident (peasant) of the village of Babrouni, Skidziel gmina, Hrodna county, who is temporarily in Yugoslavia. On 8 August 1922 he applied to the consulate of the Polish Republic in Belgrade with a request for a visa to return to his homeland. The consul was unable to settle the matter favorably, citing instructions from Warsaw. In response to the intervention of the Belarusian Deputies' Club in this matter on 11 April 1924, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent on 26.IV.24 the following reply:

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs that the matter of Haŭryla Kostsevich's entry into Poland has been decided in the negative. At the same time the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declares that the above application lacks the stamp fee in the amount of 3800000 Polish marks, which sum the Deputy will kindly forward to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, citing the number of this letter."

The above reply of the Government plainly shows its disregard for Polish citizens who are Belarusians, since it does not deign to give even Belarusian deputies an exhaustive explanation concerning the ban on the return of Belarusians to their homeland.

For this reason, invoking the Constitution of the Polish Republic as well as the Rules of Procedure of the Sejm, we demand an answer to the following questions: 1) Will the Government fulfill the relevant articles of the Treaty of Versailles and of the Peace Treaty signed in Riga concerning the citizenship of Belarusians? 2) Does the Government intend to withdraw the ban on Haŭryla Kostsevich's return to his homeland?

Warsaw, 20 May 1924.