Lebanon: Syrians who fled Belarus recount unbearable tragedy
Audio 01:20
At the gates of Europe, on the border between Belarus and Poland, tens of thousands of exiles are still stranded.
Impossible for them to cross the border.
Leonid SHCHEGLOV BELTA / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
At the gates of Europe, on the border between Belarus and Poland, tens of thousands of exiles are still stranded.
Impossible for them to cross the border.
Iraqi Kurds, Syrians or even Lebanese, used by the regime of Belarusian President Lukashenko, which opened its doors to them to put pressure on the European Union.
After days of wandering in the cold and hunger, some have chosen to turn back.
Meeting with Syrians, who fled Minsk to take refuge in Beirut.
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With our correspondent in Beirut,
Noé Pignède
Until a few days ago, Abdallah was on the border between Poland and Belarus, an icy forest where several exiles died.
This Syrian dreamed of joining Germany, but ended up turning back, towards Beirut where he is hiding.
Still traumatized by what he went through, Abdallah refuses to meet us;
he therefore testifies by telephone.
“
It was a tragedy,” he
says.
An unbearable suffering.
We wished to die.
I said to the police, "Throw us in jail. It will be easier than this hell."
We wandered in the forest, without water, without food.
They beat us, threatened us.
We are psychologically destroyed.
"
►
See also:
Belarus claims to have evacuated the migrant camps on the Polish border
Find a new path
Having left Damascus with his friends, Abdallah fled Bashar al-Assad's regime and compulsory conscription.
Today in Beirut, he and his friend Hamza are looking at all costs for a new path to Europe.
“
We cannot go back to Syria because the majority of us are called up for military service,”
says Hamza.
If we return home, we risk being thrown in jail.
So we want to reach a safe country.
Because all we're looking for is a place where we can live in safety and with dignity.
Nothing more.
We are asking for nothing other than to be treated like human beings.
"
►
To read also:
Migrant crisis: Kurdish disillusion appears in the eyes of the world
Wounded by the blows of Belarusian soldiers and in a state of post-traumatic stress, they hope to obtain a humanitarian visa, to seek asylum in France.
►
Also to listen: on the border between Poland and Belarus, where migrants are hostages in a diplomatic standoff
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Lebanon
Syria
Belarus
International Migration
Bashar al-Assad