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Several migrants are reportedly stuck on Poland’s border with Belarus, according to Polish authorities. Migrants’ rights advocates say that security forces are illegally stopping them from executing their right of seeking asylum.
The group of migrants, which includes women and children, have been sleeping rough in the forest region along the border near the Polish village of Bialowieza, located about 250 kilometers east of the capital Warsaw, for the past five days.
In a statement sent to the AFP news agency by the government, the group was described as being comprised of “around 20 – 30 people” who were “outside the jurisdiction” of Poland.
“Therefore any administrative activities, including the possible acceptance of an application for international protection, if the intention of these people is to obtain protection in Poland, is not possible,” it added.
However, the group have particularly been held back from entering the EU member state by the border fence erected by Poland to prevent irregular crossings.
Read more: Poland again registers increase in irregular migrant arrivals from Belarus
Activists say the group includes 11 children, with their nationalities ranging from Syria to Iraq to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Ola Chrzanowska from the rights body Grupa Granica told AFP that the migrants are “in a very difficult and uncertain situation,” adding that they’re tired and stressed.
Activists along the border said they were trying to help the group as best they can, coming up with games for the children.
They “can see and feel that they’re being treated like human beings, that they matter to someone. That not everyone is indifferent to their fate,” Chrzanowska said.
Grupa Granica claims that the migrants have indeed already entered Polish territory, despite not crossing the fence, as parts of the fence are — barely — located in Polish territory.
They also stress that the migrants cannot return into Belarus, where the authoritarian country’s border guards threaten them with violence. At least two people were reported to have been beaten or injured by border guards on the Belarus side.
In a tweet, Grupa Granica said that Belarus’ authorities had “brought a Congolese woman to the group, who had been bitten by border guards’ dogs” as proof that they weren’t welcome in Belarus.
‼️Pilne‼️
(1/3)‼️11 dzieci i 13 dorosłych z Syrii i Iraku od 3 dni koczuje na terenie PL po drugiej stronie muru.
Dziś służby BY groziły, że jeśli nie przejdą do PL, będą szczuci psami.
Na dowód przyprowadzili do grupy Kongijkę, którą pogryzły psy pograniczników.
Są w potrzasku.
Polish authorities meanwhile said they asked the Belarusian side to help the group, adding however that their calls have gone unanswered.
In a statement, Polish authorities said that Belarus had “only sent a person documenting the whole situation, certainly to use it for their own propaganda.”
In the absence of any support from Belarus, Poland has been supplying the stranded migrants with water, food and medication.
Read more: Frostbite at the border: Third migrant loses limb
The fate of the migrants stuck at the border remains unclear, as neither side appears to want to take responsibility for them.
Chrzanowska said that a group of activists had filed a request with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for “interim measures” to be taken to help the migrants, which — if granted — would legally require Poland to receive the group’s asylum requests.
Meanwhile, Poland’s deputy ombudsman has also intervened in the matter, issuing an “urgent request for information” about the status of the migrants.
Read more: Deaths mount at Polish border as authorities defend migrant expulsions
In a separate development, humanitarian groups have reacted to a report published by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), saying that last month at least 16 people had seriously been hurt, with some hospitalized, after attempting to cross the barbed-wire border fence between Poland and Belarus.
This calls the role of the United Kingdom into question, which reportedly provided military help to construct the 5.5 meter-high barrier, which runs for over 185 kilometers.
Sophie McCann, advocacy adviser at MSF UK, told the Guardian daily newspaper that it was “deeply alarming that the UK government is actively and directly supporting these inhumane anti-migration measures.”
“Given the government sent personnel to help construct fences in response to ‘irregular migration,’ ministers have serious questions to answer about their role in the harm and misery inflicted upon vulnerable people searching for sanctuary.”
Read more: Syrian man reportedly ‘fighting for life’ in Poland after falling off border wall
The UK’s Ministry of Defence confirmed that it had sent Royal Engineers personnel to Poland between December 2021 and August 2022 to provide support with erecting “border infrastructure” in response to “pressures from irregular migration.”
The UK, however, had at this point already left the European Union in what widely has become known as “Brexit,” prompting questions over Britain’s role along the EU’s external borders.
Recently, there also have been questions raised about the UK’s involvement with Hungary in managing migrant flows into Central Europe.
with AFP