Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko has told migrants on the Polish border on Friday that he will not stop his attempts to enter the European Union (EU) and called on Germany to accept the people.
A video released by Belarusian state media shows Lukashenko visiting a center housing hundreds of migrants near the Polish border, mostly Kurds from Iraq, who arrived in Belarus in hopes of getting into the EU.
As part of a large-scale hybrid attack by the Lukashenko regime, attempts have been made in recent months to illegally send thousands of migrants from Belarus to Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, most of them arriving in Belarus as tourists from Iraq.
The European Union has accused the Minsk regime of trying to avenge support for the Belarusian opposition and of sanctions against Belarus in response to last year’s violent crackdown on protests.
Lukashenko has denied the allegations.
The migrants in the video look confused, although there is applause.
Mr Lukashenko, who has accused him of failing to comply with EU humanitarian standards by refusing to admit migrants, told them that his government would in no way prevent them from entering Europe.
“If anyone wants to go to the West, that’s your right. We won’t try to catch you, beat you or hold you by a barbed wire fence,” Lukashenko said.
“We will work with you to achieve your dream,” he added.
As many migrants want to get to Germany, Lukashenko said he had asked the Germans to take them in.
“Please pick up these people. The number is not very large. They want to live in Germany – 2000 people is not a big problem for Germany,” Lukashenko said.
The crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border escalated this month as several hundred migrants tried to break through the border and were pushed back. About 2,000 migrants, including women and children, settled in an improvised camp near the Polish border. Last week, Belarus took these migrants to a nearby hangar with a logistics center.
Mr Lukashenko said some 150 people were still roaming the border and that there were still some 3,000 migrants outside the logistics center in Belarus.
“If we do not solve the migration problem now, it will get even bigger,” he added.
Poland reported on Wednesday that more than 200 migrants had broken through the border with the help of Belarusian border guards, but they were returned immediately.
Many migrants say they have left everything in their countries, spending thousands of dollars to enter Belarus with tourist visas, and are determined to reach the EU.
However, by denying Poland access to its territory, hundreds of Iraqis have decided to return to their country by plane organized by Minsk.
Two more planes are scheduled to fly from Minsk Airport to Iraq on Friday and Saturday.
The EU has imposed new sanctions on the Lukashenko regime in connection with the migrant crisis, in addition to last year’s crackdown on the opposition and protesters.
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