Some of them died in the cold.. the calculations of politics are squabbling thousands of migrants at the Belarusian-Polish border

KIEV

- Thousands of refugees stranded on the Belarusian-Polish border were destined to be tools of pressure between the countries of the corridor and destination, subject to the fluctuation of policies and economic calculations, far from the humanitarian aspects that forced them to migrate.

On the border between the two countries, thousands of migrants from Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Afghanistan and African countries are stranded on their journey to western Europe.

This happens under difficult conditions, with severe cold and temperatures dropping below the new zero degree, which led to the death of a number of refugees by starvation and cold, and prompted the Belarus and Polish authorities to exchange accusations of moral responsibility for what is happening.

The Latvian army erects a temporary fence of barbed wire on the border between Latvia and Belarus (Reuters)

humiliating treatment

Poland imposed a state of emergency along its 3 km border with Belarus and prevented UN officials, journalists and human rights activists from entering it, and media and communication sites published shocking images of the security forces' handling of migrants.

Ukrainian journalist Yulia Bogko - an activist in the "Reporters Without Borders" organization - told Al Jazeera Net that the migrants had turned into a bargaining wall between Belarus and its neighboring countries in the West, which - for economic reasons primarily - did not hesitate to repel migrants by force and humiliation through beatings and shootings. Firearms on them as we know."

"We fear that the situation will be worse in light of this deliberate blackout, especially since many migrants are undocumented, which may enable the border authorities to deal with migrants as mere numbers, without bearing any responsibility," she added.

Migrants at the Belarusian-Polish border face cold, hunger and arrests (Reuters)

Why Belarus?

Attempts to migrate across Belarus’ borders with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have multiplied hundreds of times over the past months. During the past year 2020, only Lithuania has arrested 81 immigrants, while the number has risen to 4,000 since the beginning of 2021, according to local media.

Poland says that weeks ago Belarus pushed about 10,000 migrants to its borders;

What is the secret of this great influx towards the latter as a transit country?

Vadim Mugiko, an expert at the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies, told "Radio Freedom" that "President (Alexander) Lukashenko is taking revenge on Western countries that refused to win the presidential elections in August 2020, and supported the opposition's movement against him, and this is what he announced openly. Last July, about allowing the influx of migrants.

And he added, "The flow of migrants to Belarus increased because the authorities in Belarus - simply - allowed their entry through its border ports officially, taking advantage of collecting visa fees and accommodation in some hotels, before heading to the border, and that is why Belarus suddenly became a convenient destination far from the dangers of going into the sea, for example." .

Poland imposed a state of emergency along 3 km of its border with Belarus (Reuters)

Crisis escalates

Many analysts express their fears that the crisis will worsen in the coming months, with the increase in the number of immigrants, the intensification of the cold, and the increasing strictness of the security services in their dealings with immigrants, by preventing their entry or return.

The expert, Vadim Mujiko, considers that the countries of origin of immigrants do not care about their fate, and therefore the future of their lives depends only on political and economic situations and factors.

He considers that "the borders are likely to increase tension, and he does not rule out the occurrence of some skirmishes between the Belarusian and Polish security forces, especially in light of the political tension, and this may lead to more casualties among the migrants."

"Even if Lukashenko succeeds in putting pressure on Poland and others, the fate of thousands of migrants will be difficult in Belarus, because the country is not ready for them to stay and bear their burdens as refugees, as other European countries," he adds.