Belarusians forced us to cross the border / Article

It’s Wednesday night. More than 200 migrants break down in Poland. Belarusian services are using stroboscopes and lasers so that Polish border guards cannot see the offenders in the dazzling rays. This is one of the ways in which Belarusian forces are helping to cross the European Union’s border. It will be easy to get over – Belarusians have told migrants. This is what the Polish border guards later told about the experience.

They said they had been deceived that Belarusian soldiers had promised that if they crossed the border, they would end up in Germany. Of course, we understand their situation. But it is the Belarusian side that is responsible for this crisis. They are not Polish border guards, “said Kristina Jakinika-Jarosha, a spokeswoman for the Polish Border Guard.

But LTV wants to hear the stories of the migrants themselves. We pass through the posts as far as the ban on journalists allows us. We have found out where there are migrant groups in the forest. Together with Polish journalists, we are looking for an Iraqi who is hiding here. For a moment it seems that someone is giving us a signal. It turns out that this is the ranger, not the migrant we are looking for. Several kilometers away we finally see him. Iraqi Kurds. He spent two nights in the forest. He does not speak English, but someone who helps him translates on the phone. Tells how the Belarusians forced to cross the border.

“Belarusian soldiers tortured me, tortured other people, they didn’t give us food, they were just planning to get us away, to push migrants to the Polish border,” says migrant Omed Ahmed Kheder from Iraq.

Belarusians have collected groups of migrants from a common hangar, where they have been housed and taken to the border.

“We were in five cars and each car was full of migrants. There were many people there, it seems several hundred migrants. We were thrown out at the Polish border. They helped us cut the fence and put the trees over the fence. But only five migrants, including “At that time, Polish soldiers arrived, blocked the fence and pushed everyone back to Belarus. I am sure the Belarusians will not allow them to sit still.

Omed Ahmed Kheder is a poet, Kurdish activist and persecuted in his homeland for criticizing the ruling party. Repeatedly arrested, tortured and beaten. The plan is to flee to Europe, where he would later be followed by his family.

He spent 4.5 thousand on the trip, which was helped by friends.

He says he has decided to surrender to the Polish authorities.

“Because I can’t go back to Iraqi Kurdistan, because of course they will kill me or arrest me, and if they (the Poles) throw me back to Belarus, it will be the same, because the Belarusian soldiers treated me the same way. those who turned against me in Kurdistan, so I want to stay here, “explains Omed Ahmed Khedher.

In addition, he has a better impression after suffering for Poles.

“There was another time I broke up, I crossed the border, but I was detained by the Polish border guards. The Poles treated me well, much better than the Belarusians,” Kheder said.

He is grateful to the Polish volunteers and says it would otherwise be frozen in the woods. Before the trip to Belarus, no one warned how cold it would be here.

According to the Border Guard, around 900 migrants have applied for asylum in Poland since the beginning of the year. But most do not want that. Many are hiding and want to move on to Germany.

As, for example, in this case, which has been reported to the police, it is clear that they are expecting someone who is likely to be hired for the money … and is leaving. According to the Polish border guards, around 2,500 illegal migrants and more than 350 smugglers have been detained in Poland since the beginning of the year.

However, according to German police, the number of illegal migrants entering Belarus from Belarus has already exceeded 10,000 since the beginning of the year.

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