At the border, migrants continue to die in silence. “Thrown into the river and chased by the dogs”
Away from the eyes and from the heart of Europe, people continue to die on the frontier of shame. But dying is not enough. First there are the torture with electric shocks, the beatings with sticks and the kicks of the guns, the games of the guards, who free the dogs, and only those who run fast enough are saved. There are children separated from their families, who wander alone in the forest until someone finds them. If anyone finds them.
Six months after the start of what is surreptitiously defined as a hybrid war of the Belarusian regime against Poland, thousands of lives are still imprisoned and tortured at the border, in that red zone that remains forbidden, despite the proclamations, to NGOs and the international media. . Beyond the barbed wire of Fortress Europe one cannot pass, one cannot look, while Minsk continues to push migrants towards Poland and Warsaw rejects them. In between are the tortures, the dead of cold, the horror. Thousands are still there, in the Białowieża forest, imprisoned by barbed wire and armed guards. Twenty-two frozen bodies found by NGOs so far.
Here, in the heart of Europe, an unprecedented humanitarian disaster is unfolding. The final sign of the defeat is the statement from Doctors Without Borders which after months of work she was forced to abandon: “We are forced to conclude our intervention in Poland due to the continuing refusal of the Polish authorities to grant access to the border with Belarus, where groups of people survive in temperatures below zero, in desperate need of medical-humanitarian assistance ”. After Amnesty International, another confirmation, if any were needed, that what was declared by Warsaw (no illegal push-back, no impediment to rescue NGOs) is not true. “We only had access to the external areas – explains the president of MSF Italy, Claudia Lodesani – to a very limited number of people, those who had managed to overcome the border guards barrier, so it is impossible to continue”. In the frost of the forest there are still people who need help, “but despite our commitment and will to assist them, we are unable to do it on the Polish front”.
The obstacles placed in the path of Doctors Without Borders are the same as those reported by the Polish NGOs, in the front line with the inhabitants of the forbidden area near the border. The green lanterns are still on, at night the phones ring continuously, whoever sees a migrant calls the NGOs that warn the media still at the border (witnesses are needed). The rescue network exchanges gps coordinates, the closest one runs as fast as he can. You have to get there before the border guards. “We are more and more tired, exhausted – says Kornelia of Fundacia Ocalenie – we work in shifts, together with the inhabitants and some border mayors, but we can’t take it anymore”.
A three-year-old boy was found just 48 hours ago. He wandered alone in the forest, separated from his parents, a bear-shaped hood on his head, tiny snow boots on his feet. “The incredible thing is that this is Europe, the one that should be based on the principle of solidarity, on human rights – says Lodesani -, but which instead does not give assistance to people who need care, to people who die of cold . In Europe, in 2022 ».
An Iraqi Yazidi told Amnesty International that about an hour after crossing the Polish border, he was stopped by soldiers and taken to the river that marks the border with Belarus: “The river was only about 10 or 15 meters wide, but it was deep and the current was very fast. They pulled us out of the vehicles and pushed us into the water. Anyone who did not enter was beaten with sticks ». The testimonies tell only one version, profoundly different from that given by Warsaw: “It is not the first time that a government lies – adds Lodesani – but it is disarming to clash against such a strong political will. To rebalance the situation we need the commitment of civil society, now addicted to pain and increasingly indifferent ».
In the Amnesty International report there are no nuances: “Poland clearly violates international law and standards, even violating the prohibition of torture and other persecutions”. And Europe is silent. “The attempts of the EU to externalise borders are evident, but it is not a far-sighted strategy – explains Lodesani – the phenomenon of migration is a complex phenomenon that must be faced in a complex way”.
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