On the border between Belarus and Poland, more and more people are trying to enter the EU illegally. Aid organizations are not allowed into the area – they warn of a humanitarian disaster.
Two black backpacks, a wet sleeping bag, a pair of soaked sneakers. In the dense forest near a country road near Hajnowka in the far east of Poland, the remains lie on moss and autumn leaves.
“It was probably a hectic departure – who knows where these people are now,” says Maria Zlonkiewicz. The 36-year-old human rights activist rummages in one of the backpacks: medication from Iraq and Turkey, a cell phone charger, biscuits and rheumatoid plasters with Russian and Belarusian labels. There are traces of migrants from the Middle East. Thousands of them are currently trying to enter the EU illegally through Belarus. Many want to continue to Germany and other western countries.
First migrants died
Poland relies on hardship: In the region around the EU’s external border, the state of emergency applies, aid organizations and journalists are not allowed in, most migrants are turned away. The government in Warsaw has accused the Belarusian ruler, Alexander Lukashenko, of organizing the refugees to the EU’s external border – in response to tightened Western sanctions against his country. Several migrants have already died in the past few weeks in the lonely, swampy border area.
Maria Zlonkiewicz fears that there could be even more deaths when the night frosts set in. «We appeal to the Polish government to let doctors and paramedics at the border. Otherwise we will find a lot of bodies in the spring. ” Zlonkiewicz represents the “Border Group” action alliance to which Polish refugee aid organizations have come together. The activists walk through the woods near the border. They try to track down migrants, give them food, warm clothing and emergency blankets. So far, they have been able to help around 50 people.
Contact via the Internet
The refugees find contact with the helpers via social media. “We are present on internet forums where supposedly safe passage through Belarus is advertised,” says activist Aleksandra Gulinska (34). Several times a day and night, wandering refugee groups would now report.
The human rights activists see signs that Poland’s border guards are deporting migrants to Belarus – so-called pushbacks. “We are receiving signals from groups of refugees who are first on the Polish side of the border, then back on the Belarusian side,” said Aleksandra Gulinska. Due to the state of emergency, which applies to a strip of three kilometers, the helpers are not allowed to go to the border and cannot document the probably illegal pushbacks.
The aid organizations are also unable to reach a group of 32 migrants who have been camping for several weeks near the Polish village of Usnarz Gorny in a forest on the Belarusian border area.
Heavily guarded border
Around 4,000 border guards, 2,500 soldiers and 600 police officers are on duty on Poland’s 418-kilometer border with Belarus. There are checkpoints in the forests around Hajnowka – not only at the beginning of the exclusion zone, but also on country roads and forest roads. Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said the situation at the border was serious. The state of emergency is to be extended for a further 60 days.
In Brussels, the tense situation at the border is viewed with great concern. On the one hand, EU Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson sees an “act of aggression” by the Belarusian ruler who wants to destabilize the EU. At the same time, the Swede says: “It is completely unacceptable that people die at our external borders.” She demands transparency from the government in Warsaw. Poland must protect the EU’s external borders – but at the same time it must comply with EU law and fundamental rights. She would like to speak to the Polish Minister of the Interior, Kaminski, about this.
But the cooperation between Poland and the EU Commission is anything but smooth. In order to better assess the situation, the Brussels authority would like to see the EU border protection force Frontex at the border. But such an operation would have to be requested by the Polish government – and so far it has not even thought about it. In addition, Johansson’s team tried in vain for days to talk between Kaminski and the EU Commissioner. She now wants to travel to Warsaw on Thursday. Then after days of radio silence there could be an exchange. “I would like to know more about what happened,” says Johansson.
The national conservative government in Warsaw is making people afraid of the refugees, criticizes the EU parliamentarian Janina Ochojska, founder of the “Polish Humanitarian Action”. Poland could definitely afford to take in the 10,000 or so migrants who, according to the border guards, are supposed to be in Belarus. “I’m even sure: Most Poles would like to help these people.”
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