Amaya Valcárcel, JRS International Advocacy Officer
People on the move fleeing conflicts in the Middle East and other areas continue to be stuck in a forested border region between Belarus and Poland and are in need of humanitarian and medical assistance˳ In 2021 thousands of people tried to enter European Union through Lithuania, Latvia and Poland from neighboring Belarus˳ The situation at the borders became critical during the winter months, with hundreds of people stranded for weeks in freezing conditions˳
At least 24 people lost their lives in attempts to cross the border from Belarus to the EU in 2021 and early 2022˳ According to Polish border guards, 977 attempts to cross the border were recorded in April 2022 and nearly 4,280 since the beginning of 2022˳ This is far fewer than last November, when between 3,000 and 4,000 migrants gathered along the border in just a few days˳ But the situation continues to be dramatic and out of sight, now that the world attention is turned towards the exodus from Ukraine˳
The people in need of protection arriving in the border have experienced long and difficult journeys˳ Many come from countries where conflict is ongoing, such as Yemen, Syria or the Iraqi Kurdistan, including members of the severely persecuted Yazidi community˳ Most of the asylum seekers have been repeatedly caught, and illegally and violently pushed back to Belarus by Poland’s border guards˳ EU policies and restricted access for aid organisations could result in yet more migrants and refugees dying˳
While many of these refugees demanded to be listened to through access to asylum, the response, in January 2022, was that Polish contractors begun work on a new 353 million euro wall along the Belarus border aimed at deterring refugee crossings˳ The 5˳5-metre-high wall will run along 186km of the border – almost half the total length – and is to be completed in June 2022˳
In February 2022, independent UN experts expressed concern over allegations that human rights defenders had been threatened at the Polish-Belarusian border, including media workers and interpreters˳ In March, there were reports by aid organization about the refugee crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border having worsened in as all the migrants staying in a camp in Bruzgi, Belarus, were forced out˳ The most vulnerable, including families with children and those who were ill or had disabilities, are trying to survive in the surrounding forest˳
There are women with their sons and daughters being expelled several times, as one Syrian woman mother of a 19-year-old young man and twins of 14 year-old˳ They were sent to a no man’s land between two villages Nomiki and Zubrzyca Wielka in the Beloausan side of the border˳
In April 2022, another young man from Yemen was pushed back to a compound built by the Polish government between Kuźnica and Szudziałowo, close to the border police˳ The man was hit during several days by Belarusan police˳ He is together with a group of four adults and four minors, all from Yemen˳ The doctors who were able to connect via video with the group said that the man was in need of urgent medical assistance˳ The members of the group asked for medical help and water to the Polish border police but they refused it˳ To date, we do not know if he is still alive˳
“Around the world, certain political leaders and certain media have dehumanized migrants so much that every action to push them away becomes acceptable˳ But this is far removed from international humanitarian instruments/agreements which the same countries have committed themselves to˳ No asylum seeker should be returned without first being given a fair hearing”, said JRS country director in Iraq, Fr˳ Joe Cassar SJ˳
For further information:
Al Jazeera˳ Worlds apart: 24 hours with two refugees in Poland, 22 May 2022, https://www˳aljazeera˳com/features/2022/5/22/worlds-apart-24-hours-with-two-refugees-in-poland
Amnesty International˳ Poland/Belarus: New evidence of abuses highlights ‘hypocrisy’ of unequal treatment of asylum-seeker, 11th April, 2022, https://www˳amnesty˳org/en/latest/news/2022/04/poland-belarus-new-evidence-of-abuses-highlights-hypocrisy-of-unequal-treatment-of-asylum-seekers/
Poland-Belarus border crisis: “We don’t want people to die in the forest”, February 2022˳ https://reliefweb˳int/report/poland/poland-belarus-border-crisis-we-don-t-want-people-die-forest
UNHCR and IOM Call for immediate de-escalation at the Belarus-Poland border, November 2021, https://www˳unhcr˳org/neu/70501-unhcr-and-iom-call-for-immediate-de-escalation-at-the-belarus-poland-border˳html