Accompanied by Belarusian border guards drew Monday about a thousand migrants to the Polish border. They then tried to cross that border in groups, each time stopped by Polish soldiers.
Belarus accuses Poland of inhumane policy, but according to EU countries Belarus deliberately sends migrants across the border. Poland speaks of a “hostile action” and has sent thousands of extra soldiers to the area.
“This is a textbook example of subversion,” says Eastern Europe expert Hubert Smeets. “Belarus wants to undermine internal European relations through the flow of migrants.”
‘Strange situation’
That’s been going on for a while. In recent months, more and more migrants from Asia, the Middle East and Africa have been traveling via Belarus to the borders with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia in an attempt to enter the EU. The final destination is usually Germany.
Poland regularly sends those people back to Belarus. People have already been killed at the border. Both Poland and Belarus are trying to keep quiet about exactly how things work in the border area, says correspondent Saskia Dekkers. She is in Poland, near the border. “It’s a very strange situation. Five kilometers behind me, hundreds, maybe thousands of people are trapped in a forest and we can’t control what the situation really is.”
The Polish government has declared a state of emergency in the area. Media and aid workers are not allowed to enter a strip of three kilometers along the border. Dekkers: “So the only information we have is the propaganda films of the Belarusian army, the Polish army and the testimonies of migrants.”
Some migrants have been trapped in a forest along the border for months, Iraqi Bakhtiar tells Nieuwsuur in video messages. The atmosphere is often grim and conditions harsh, he says:
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“We’ll keep trying, even though we know they’re going to use tear gas”
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Belarus is actively helping migrants from Iraq, Yemen and Syria to reach the EU. With planes of state airline Belavia they are brought to Belarus from, for example, Dubai and Beirut, says Eastern Europe expert Smeets.
According to him, President Alexander Lukashenko wants to achieve two things with this. First, revenge for the sanctions introduced by the EU after human rights violations and the fraudulent presidential election in Belarus last year. “Helping migrants is a provocation. Lukashenko undermines relations in Europe.” Lukashenko pits Poland, which does not want to receive migrants, against Western European countries “which have humane views on how to deal with migrants”.
“Europe doesn’t know what to do with this. You can see the inconvenience about pushing Polish back, which is in violation of EU agreements.”
‘Fascist traits’
Second, the migrants provide Lukashenko with money. “The migrants often paid thousands of euros to people smugglers,” correspondent Dekkers agrees. Some of that money flows through to the regime. Smeets: “Lukashenko turns out to be a people smuggler. But that doesn’t bother him. He is past all shame. The regime is starting to get more and more fascist.”
Lukashenko is supported in this by Russian President Vladimir Putin, says Smeets. He wants to merge the two countries later in the so-called Union state. “It is gaining more and more exposure, including through joint foreign and defense policy.”
But despite Putin’s role, EU countries do not hold him accountable. That while sanctions against Russia can do something, Smeets thinks. “But sanctioning people close to Putin is something the EU cannot do until they know exactly what their role is.”
Fear of war
Smeets fears that the provocations on the (Belarus) Russian side could turn into violence. “There would already be shots back and forth.”
They are also afraid on the Polish side “that it will escalate or even lead to a war”, correspondent Dekkers hears. “A war between Belarus and Poland, which will also affect the European Union.”
The migrants meanwhile feel like a plaything in this geopolitical joust, says Dekkers. “They have nothing left to lose. The only thing we know for sure is that people absolutely want to leave there, to Western Europe, across that border.”
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