The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has called on Poland to admit to its territory a group of migrants who are stuck on the Polish-Belarusian border.
The corresponding statement was made on Tuesday by the UNHCR office in the republic.
“Although we recognize the existence of problems associated with the increase in the number of people entering Poland, we are asking the Polish authorities to provide these people with access to the territory, to immediately provide them with medical assistance, legal and socio-psychological support,” the UNHCR said.
On a section of the border near the Polish settlement of Usnazh Gurny in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, 24 migrants were blocked trying to get from Belarus to Poland.
On the one side of the border, Belarusian border guards do not allow them to return back, on the other, Polish security forces do not allow them to enter Poland.
Recall that in recent weeks Poland has recorded a significant increase in the flow of illegal migrants who are trying to get into the republic across the border with Belarus.
Since the beginning of August, more than 2,000 people have tried to illegally cross the Polish-Belarusian border.
Over the past year, there were only 120 such attempts. The Border Guard stopped 1,350 penetrations, detaining 780 foreigners.
To protect against the influx of illegal migrants, Poland intends to build a "new solid fence" on the border with Belarus.
This was announced on August 23 by the Minister of National Defense of Poland, Mariusz Blaszczak.
Minister of National Defense of Poland Mariusz Blaszczak
Reuters
© Agencja Gazeta / Slawomir Kaminski
According to him, the height of the structure will be 2.5 m. It will be made of twisted wire, laid one on top of the other.
The design and construction of the fence will be carried out by the Polish military.
The head of the Ministry of Defense also stressed that the Belarusian services allegedly bring foreigners to the border and thereby try to provoke a crisis in the European Union.
“We are dealing with an attack on Poland.
We can say that this is a hybrid war.
This is an attempt to destabilize Poland and the European Union, this is an attempt to create a migration crisis.
Europe experienced such a crisis in 2015.
Then the Balkan road was opened.
Today we are dealing with an attempt to create such a corridor through Poland, "- quotes the words of the head of the Ministry of Defense" Polish Radio ".
According to Blaszczak, border guards and the Polish military are ready to stop this threat.
The minister said that at the moment a thousand soldiers are involved in guarding the border.
Their number is planned to be doubled, the head of the department added.
"Threatened by weapons, shooting over their heads"
Earlier, on August 19, Deputy Foreign Minister of Poland Marcin Pshidach also accused the Belarusian authorities of provoking a migration crisis at the border.
According to him, what is happening is a "political operation" of the Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
Pshidach stated that Minsk allegedly uses illegal migrants "as an instrument of political pressure on Warsaw."
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, in turn, said on August 23 that Poland had provoked a border conflict and violated the Belarusian state border.
Migrants on the border with Poland
© REUTERS / Kacper Pempel
According to him, the Polish security forces tried to forcefully expel about 50 refugees into the territory of Belarus.
“Under the threat of weapons, shooting over their heads, they pushed them to the border with Belarus.
Naturally, they went to Germany, they do not want to go to Belarus.
Thus, Poland started a border conflict ... by violating the state border of Belarus, ”the president said.
Poland was not the first country to face an influx of migrants traveling through Belarus to Europe.
Earlier, Lithuania found itself in a similar position.
At the beginning of the summer, Vilnius began to record an increase in the number of illegal immigrants trying to get into the country across the border with Belarus.
According to the Lithuanian Ministry of Internal Affairs, in 2021, more than 4.1 thousand migrants illegally crossed the Lithuanian-Belarusian border, which is about 50 times more than in 2020.
Many of the illegal immigrants are citizens of the Middle Eastern countries.
To solve the problem, Vilnius, like Warsaw, decided to build a wall on the border with Belarus.
The height of the barrier will be at least three meters.
It should be built already in 2022.
The project cost is estimated at € 152 million.
In addition, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex provides assistance to Lithuania in border protection.
The border crisis creates problems for Lithuania also within the country.
Thus, in early August, it became known that riots broke out in the tent camp where the Lithuanian authorities had taken the captured migrants.
According to the LRT TV channel, the refugees' discontent was caused by the poor conditions of detention.
They complained about a shortage of sleeping bags and unsuitable drinking water.
Poor medical care has also been reported.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Lithuania presented their version of events.
According to security officials, the riots began after the tents got wet during the rain and one of them lost its shape.
The protesters were dispersed with water from a fire hose and tear gas.
Local residents are also protesting in Lithuania, dissatisfied with the placement of migrants in the country.
So, at the end of July, about 400 people gathered at the government building in the center of Vilnius to protest against the equipment of the refugee camp in the city of Devaniškės.
A similar action took place in the village of Rudninkai, not far from which it is planned to build a tent camp for 1.5 thousand people (while in the village itself there are only about 500 residents).
On the fact of the protest action, the Lithuanian police have already launched a preliminary investigation.
The Council of Europe called on Vilnius in the current situation to adhere to the standards set forth in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and other key legal documents.
Brussels also stated that the recent legislative amendments adopted by Vilnius remove important guarantees in the asylum procedure.
In addition, the Council of Europe noted that the conditions for accommodating refugees in Lithuania are comparable to being in custody.
Alexander Lukashenko
Reuters
© Tut.By
Lithuania, like Poland, blames Belarus for the current situation and calls for new sanctions against Minsk.
The Belarusian authorities reject such attacks.
According to Alexander Lukashenko, Minsk has always been responsible for fulfilling its obligations to combat illegal migration.
He noted that the republic will continue to do this, but "just as much as necessary, is beneficial" for Belarus and as much as "financially possible."
Relations with neighbors
Analysts believe that the actions of Poland and Lithuania in the context of the migration crisis are ineffective.
In particular, experts believe that "projects to create fences at the border" will not be able to rectify the situation, since they will require large investments, and their implementation may take years.
“Estonia was the first to talk about building a wall in the region a few years ago.
Moreover, on the border with the Russian Federation and without any migration crisis.
However, things are still there.
Based on the experience of Estonia, the implementation of projects in Poland and Lithuania will take years.
It's not enough to build a wall - it also needs to be operated, checked its technical condition, repaired, equipped with equipment, "Nikolai Mezhevich, chief researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said in an interview with RT.
Belarusian border guards
© REUTERS / Vasily Fedosenko
“The situation with the Lithuanian wall is uncertain.
The Polish-Belarusian border is quite long, the implementation of this project will require large financial injections and, accordingly, a long period of time, so there is no need to talk about its practical implementation, at least in the medium term, "commented RT a senior lecturer at the Department of International Politics and Foreign Regional Studies Institute of Social Sciences, RANEPA Sergei Margulis.
In turn, Nikolai Mezhevich added that, in general, world experience shows "the ineffectiveness of building walls in such situations."
"None of the protective structures of a border or quasi-border character in the history of mankind has not completely solved this problem, since this obstacle can be overcome," the political scientist says.
According to analysts, border problems cannot be resolved unilaterally, without coordinating efforts with the neighboring side.
Therefore, the only way out for Poland and Lithuania in this situation is to establish a dialogue with Belarus.
“The problem can be solved by establishing rather friendly or at least pragmatic relations with neighbors.
If Lithuania and Poland had not financed the opposition in Belarus and recognized Lukashenko as the legitimate president, they would have received a border impassable for migrants.
When normal relations were maintained between the countries, everything was generally calm at the borders, ”the analyst stated.
However, as experts point out, Poland and the Baltic countries themselves destroyed relations with Belarus.
During last year's political crisis in the country, they openly supported the Belarusian opposition, refused to recognize Lukashenka's victory in the elections, and were the main supporters of the imposition of sanctions against Minsk.
In these conditions, experts say, it is strange to expect from Belarus that it will devote all its efforts to solving the migration crisis.
“Today, the Belarusian authorities do not hinder migrants who move towards the EU.
This is not surprising, given that Warsaw and Vilnius feed and promote the Belarusian opposition at the expense of the state budget, and also still do not recognize Lukashenko as the president of Belarus.
They have crossed out the possibility of effective interaction with Minsk for themselves, ”Nikolai Mezhevich concluded.