Influx of migrants through Belarus and Poland embarrass Germany
Audio 02:25
Two young refugees in the courtyard of the initial reception center in Eisenhuettenstadt, Germany on October 25, 2021. Since the start of the year, around 5,700 migrants have reportedly crossed the border between Poland and Germany without permission.
© JENS SCHLUETER / AFP
By: Nathalie Versieux
2 min
For weeks, Germany has been facing a new wave of migration, from Iraq, Syria or Yemen.
The new migrants almost all passed through Belarus.
Dictator Lukashenko is accused by Europe of instrumentalizing migrants to avenge the sanctions decreed by the European Union against his repressive regime.
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A brand new gray bus leaves the dirt and concrete slab courtyard of the Eisenhüttenstadt emergency accommodation center, heading for the Polish border, where a new group of refugees may already be waiting for it.
For weeks, the number of migrants illegally crossing the German-Polish border has exploded.
“
The number of refugees has exploded in recent months.
During the past three years, the number of arrivals has averaged 300 people per month.
In September we suddenly rose to
1,500 people and we already have more than 2,200 people this month
”, explains Olaf Jansen, director of the center, managed by the Red Cross.
95% of new refugees, assures Olaf Jansen, arrive from Belarus.
Like Aya, a 28-year-old Syrian psychology student in Lebanon where she lived as a refugee, who arrived in Eisenhüttenstadt with six college friends, after crossing Belarus and Poland.
“
In Lebanon I got a visa for Belarus.
Then from Belarus, we took a taxi to the border with Poland, which left us in a sort of small village.
From there we continued on foot through a kind of thick jungle.
Three times we tried to cross at night to Poland.
The third attempt was successful.
"
A wave of refugees reminiscent of that of 2015
Quickly caught by the German police, the small group is brought to the center.
In Germany, the memory of the wave of refugees of 2015 is present in everyone's mind.
The authorities, says Olaf Jansen, have learned from the mistakes of the past.
“
In 2015, we did not immediately register people when they arrived.
Today, everyone is photographed on arrival, we take fingerprints, we check whether we already have data on people, whether it is possibly a criminal.
These are the first things we do, upon arrival, and this is particularly important
.
"
In the camp, the days are long for the refugees, especially for the children, who kill time by playing ball.
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