Migrants reveal desperate attempts to cross Polish-Belarus border as crisis escalates
A tragedy is unfolding in Europe, with desperate families – including children and pregnant women – used as pawns in an increasingly ugly clash.
Heartbreaking stories are emerging from the Polish-Belarus border, where an ugly political spat is risking the lives of thousands.
For months, tensions have been rising between Belarus and some of its neighbours, including Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, with Belarus’ leader, President Alexander Lukashenko, accused of “weaponising” migration after a string of sanctions were imposed against his authoritarian regime.
According to the allegations, Belarus is now assisting migrants and refugees – including those from Africa and the Middle East – to pass through Belarus and illegally cross into neighbouring states.
This week, news broke that hundreds of migrants and refugees had attempted to storm Poland’s border, with “thousands” more on the way.
Now, stories from the frontline are beginning to emerge, revealing the desperate plight of families trapped in the area.
A series of photos by AFP’s Wojtek Radwanski show the desperation faced by 16 members across three generations of one Kurdish family from Iraq.
The extended family – which includes seven children, the youngest just five months old – fled their home in Dohuk to escape retaliation from former Islamic State members.
They spent 20 days in a freezing forest and were pushed back into Belarus eight times after trying to cross into Poland, and claim they were beaten and threatened with dogs by Belarusian soldiers.
The family is just one of many forced to endure subzero temperatures and survive in flimsy tents and sodden sleeping bags, with the cruel conditions claiming at least eight lives so far.
Doctors Without Borders humanitarian affairs adviser Kyle McNally told The Guardian he had “seen first-hand the injuries people experienced when assaulted by border guards” from both Poland and Lithuania.
“People have described being beaten with the butt of a gun, kicked in the ribs, electrocuted in the neck, and have had all their belongings taken or destroyed by European border guards,” he said. “This is unacceptable and must end now.”
On Wednesday, Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas revealed his country was supporting fresh EU sanctions against Belarus, accusing Mr Lukashenko of “unscrupulously exploiting” asylum seekers by encouraging them to flock to the Polish border.
“We will sanction all those who participate in the targeted smuggling of migrants,” he said in a statement, adding that the EU will work to “extend and tighten … sanctions against Lukashenko’s regime”.
Meanwhile, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki this week accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being behind the “attack”, while European Commission spokesman, Peter Stano, said the border crisis was “part of the inhuman and really gangster-style approach of the Lukashenko regime”.
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After hundreds of migrants descended upon the Polish border on Monday, Poland and Belarus have both since claimed up to 4000 were now huddled at a makeshift camp near the Polish village of Kuznica.
While reporters have been blocked from the area, aid organisations and human rights groups have been raising awareness and spreading harrowing tales of human suffering.
It is understood the group includes a huge number of babies, children, pregnant women and the elderly, sparking fears of a mass tragedy in the making.
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