Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko. - REUTERS

MINSK (Reuters):

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, berated in the West for his authoritarian methods, has ordered that children be taken from families deemed "immoral" and sent to orphanages.

This would be done bypassing the courts under Lukashenko's decree, which was signed late on Friday and will come into force on January 1, 2007.

Parents would have to repay the costs of their children's stay in orphanages and their own homes could be confiscated.

"If it is established that parents are leading an immoral life which corrupts their children, if they are hard-core alcoholics or drug addicts, or if they in any other way neglect their parental duties, their children will be placed under state guardianship," Lukashenko's press service said.

"Thus, such procedures are envisaged to be implemented bypassing courts," it said.

In a move strikingly similar to Soviet-era campaigns against "spongers and ill-gained profits", Lukashenko said "careless parents" would be prosecuted if they dodged compulsory labour or misreported their real incomes.

Tough measures

Authorities have in recent years tightened procedures for foreign adoptions, now subject to approval by the Education Minister, and made it more difficult for children to be sent on holidays abroad.

The move came after a couple in Italy tried to prevent the return home to Belarus of a child in their care. The couple said she was being mistreated at her orphanage, an allegation denied by Belarussian officials.

Belarus authorities say they want to protect children from uncaring parents and domestic violence, as well as Western influences they say are alien to Belarussian customs.

Under the latest presidential decree, local authorities across the ex-Soviet state may evict "immoral" parents from their native towns or villages.

Lukashenko is accused in the West of crushing fundamental freedoms, hounding opponents and stifling the independent media. He, in turn, accuses the United States and European Union of inciting dissent aimed to topple him.