Youssef Atallah (37) was in the forest area between Poland and Belarus with no food or drink, icy cold and a broken nose that made it difficult to breathe.
He tells the news agency Reuters that he was beaten by a Belarusian soldier who beat him when he was captured at the border.
– They took us and ordered us down on our knees, we went on our knees. A soldier kicked me in the face so I fainted for a few minutes. He snapped my nose and a bone here (pointing to the skin journ.anm) and my eyes are swollen, says Atallah
He is now in a refugee center in eastern Poland. From there, he shares his experience of the inhuman treatment in the border area.
On orders from the state
Migrants are returned to Belarus by Polish soldiers, only to be blocked by the same Belarusian soldiers who previously helped them cross the border into Poland.
– We said we would return to Minsk, we would not continue this trip. They told us that it was not an option for us to go back to Misk, just go to Poland, says Atallah.
An Afghan migrant, who wished to remain anonymous, said he had been in the same situation. The only option was to try to cross the border, with the support of Belarusian soldiers.
– An Afghan girl at the migration center in Poland. Photo: MARKO DJURICA / REUTERS
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“Belarusian soldiers are forcing and helping migrants to cross the border,” he told the news agency.
The soldiers told the man that they were acting on orders from the state.
Forcing migrants across the border
The anonymous man himself fled Afghanistan after the Taliban took power in August. He says that the Belarusian military came to migrant camps at night and took a group of around 30 and 40 refugees with them, and then forced them across the border.
– They look at the border, and if no one is there, they give them a pair of bolt cutters and force them to cut up the barbed wire fence, he says.
Thaer Rezk, another migrant from Syria, said that the military sometimes cuts the fence itself to allow migrants to enter the EU.
Despite a long journey, the Afghan man is still happy to have arrived in Poland.
– I feel safer now. I’m sure I can build a good career here, and that my son can get a good education. His future is secured, he told the news agency.
Chaotic state
The EU has previously accused Belarus of violating human rights, and now believes it is pushing refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Afghanistan over to Europe in retaliation for these statements.
The EU stated that Belarus now uses migrants fleeing war to Europe as “shrimp”.
The country’s Prime Minister Luka …. denies that they use migrants as a political weapon, and says that the United States and Europe are responsible for the people at the border.
On Wednesday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stated that Belarus was pursuing “state communism” over the migrant crisis on the Polish border.
The situation is tense, and media all over the world report chaotic conditions in the forest area between the countries. In the last 24 hours alone, Polish authorities have arrested around 50 people who have crossed the border illegally.
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