Belarus is driving refugees to Poland

According to the authorities in Belarus, a larger group of refugees is walking towards the border with the neighboring EU country Poland. On the Polish-Belarusian side, the situation for the refugees is worsening.

Journalists use Twitter to report on the scenes that are taking place in the border region. The photos show how hundreds of people carry their belongings with them.

Masses of people are being driven towards Poland under the control of the Belarusian military. The photos show soldiers who are purposefully driving refugees into the forests on the border with Poland. At the border they encounter numerous Belarusian soldiers, prison wagons and barbed wire. Polish aid agencies had previously warned of serious clashes at the border.

From the point of view of the Polish government, the group could be urged to break the border near the town of Kuznica Bialostocka. “According to the latest information, this huge group of migrants is under the control of armed Belarusian forces who decide where to go and where not,” wrote intelligence coordinator Stanislaw Zaryn on Twitter.

He spoke of another hostile action by the neighboring country against Poland. The Polish government therefore convened a crisis team.

The Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko sees himself being criticized for having people flown in from crisis regions in order to smuggle them into the EU. In response to sanctions against his country, he had declared that he would no longer stop people on their way to a better life in the “cozy West”.

Following the presidential election in Belarus last year, which was accompanied by massive allegations of fraud, and the subsequent brutal crackdown on demonstrators by the security forces, the EU imposed a series of punitive measures against the Minsk leadership.

According to a report by the state news agency Belta, the Lukashenko government’s border guard said on Monday that “all necessary measures” had been taken to ensure security.

There have already been several deaths among refugees in the border region. The EU states Poland and Lithuania have reported thousands of border crossings in the past few months. Germany is considered a main destination for migrants.

The EU has not recognized Lukashenko as head of state of Belarus since the controversial presidential election last year. The “last dictator in Europe”, as critics call him, is supported by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin on Monday welcomed the authorities’ actions in relation to the migrants.

For migrants who are stranded in the Polish-Belarusian border area, the situation is devastating, also in view of the increasing winter temperatures. Many of the people say they are being forced to cross the border into Poland by Belarusian security forces. Polish border guards are sending some migrants back to Belarus by force. (Tsp, AFP, dpa)