Belarus claims to have evacuated migrant camps on Polish border
The camp for evacuated migrants near the Kuznitsa checkpoint on the border with Poland, near Grodno in Belarus, on November 18, 2021. © AP - Leonid Shcheglov / BelTA
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Belarus says it evacuated the main migrant camps on its border with Poland on Thursday, November 18.
This could constitute a major step towards a solution to this crisis also involving Russia and the whole of the European Union.
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According to the Belarusian news agency Belta, migrants who were sheltering in these makeshift camps set up in the forest were taken to a shed a little further from the border.
A spokesman for Polish customs officials quoted by Reuters confirmed that these camps had been evacuated: "
These camps are now empty, the migrants were most probably taken to the logistics and transport center which is not far from the post. Bruzgi border.
There were no other such camps [...] but there were groups that appeared in other places to try to cross the border.
We will see what happens in the next few hours.
[...] There are still people around there, but it is clearly emptying.
"
The European Union accuses Belarus of having transported thousands of migrants from the Middle East to create a crisis situation on the border of Poland but also of Lithuania, in retaliation for the sanctions imposed after the repression of the demonstrations of 2020 against the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko.
Minsk denies any instrumentalisation.
►
To listen:
Europe stuck in the management of migrants on its doorstep
EU refuses to negotiate with Minsk
The evacuation of these camps comes after intense diplomatic activity which notably saw German Chancellor Angela Merkel meet twice, Monday and Wednesday, with Alexander Lukashenko, who had not had any contact with any Western leader since his departure. 2020 re-election.
Belarus reported on Thursday that its president had submitted a plan to end the crisis to Angela Merkel.
This plan would provide for the repatriation of 5,000 migrants by Minsk and the support of 2,000 others by the European Union.
Berlin has denied any agreement.
A German government source pointed out that the current crisis was "
a European problem for which Germany is not acting alone
".
The European executive did not immediately respond to the Minsk proposal, but had previously indicated that it did not intend to negotiate with Alexander Lukashenko.
For their part, the foreign ministers of the member countries of the G7 launched an appeal Thursday to Belarus to put an end to "
inhuman acts
" which "
put the lives of people in danger
".
"
We call on the regime to immediately cease its aggressive and exploitative campaign to avoid further death and suffering,
" they said in a statement.
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See also: Lithuania worries after Merkel's calls to Lukashenko
Arrests at the Polish border
At least 11 migrants have died on both sides of the border since the summer, according to humanitarian organizations.
In recent weeks, hundreds of migrants have attempted to cross into Poland every night, confronting Polish forces.
As a sign that the situation remains tense, Polish security forces have announced the arrest of a hundred migrants who tried to cross the border overnight from Wednesday to Thursday.
Video released by the Defense Ministry shows Polish soldiers surrounding a large group of migrants crouching on the ground at night in a forest, near a barbed wire fence.
The incident could not be independently verified, as journalists are banned from the immediate border area on the Polish side.
In another incident, video footage released by Belarusian border guards showed a Lithuanian border guard dog biting a man lying on the ground in a sleeping bag.
Lithuanian border guards admitted to the incident, saying they were trying to push a group of migrants back to Belarus and border guards did not see the migrant.
(With agencies)
►
To listen: Grand Reportage on the border between Poland and Belarus, where migrants are hostages in a diplomatic standoff
Migrant repatriation flight arrived from Minsk to Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan
An Iraqi aircraft that left Minsk with migrants stranded at the Polish-Belarusian border on board landed Thursday evening at Erbil airport in Iraqi Kurdistan, the region where many of them are from .
A total of 431 people were on board the Boeing 747 of the national carrier Iraqi Airways, according to the government spokesman of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, Jotiar Adel.
The vast majority of passengers got off at Erbil from the aircraft which was to take off again in the evening for Baghdad.
Among the passengers were many children and women.
When they got off the plane, some hid their faces so as not to appear on the images broadcast live by local televisions.
Many of them carried their personal belongings in backpacks or plastic bags.
This repatriation, the first since the start of the migration crisis on the border between Belarus and Poland, is being done "
on a voluntary basis
", according to the government in Baghdad.
The Iraqi Kurds who returned on Thursday were part of a group of several thousand migrants, mostly from the Middle East, who had been stranded for days along the Polish border in hopes of reaching the EU.
Warsaw, along with Belarus' two other European neighbors, Lithuania and Latvia, refuse to let them pass.
Brussels hopes that the pressure on airlines to stop bringing migrants to Minsk from the Middle East will bear fruit.
Several companies have already agreed to suspend their flights to the Belarusian capital.
(With agencies)
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To read also: In the migratory crisis in Belarus, few Iraqis candidates for return despite the extreme conditions
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Belarus
Poland
European Union
Angela Merkel
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International Migration
Iraq
Kurds