Human rights activists and bird conservationists protest side by side
Against the construction of the wall there are ongoing, but probably futile protests in many parts of Poland. The protests are often about a more humane policy towards refugees. Because the construction of the border wall is the response of the national-conservative Polish government to the mass rush of thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Africa to the border last year, supported by the Belarusian authorities.
Resident Wajrak, who as a reporter for the daily newspaper “Gazeta Wyborcza” is known nationwide for his environmental reports, is concerned with nature and human rights. “People will always find a way over a wall – the Germans in particular know that,” he says. »The Polish government must abide by the law, towards nature and the poor people.«
The EU Commission and UNESCO are also concerned. UNESCO manager Guy Debonnet points out that the “ecological connection” between the Polish and Belarusian parts of the primeval forest was a key element when the forest was classified as a natural world heritage site in 1992.
»We want to defend our national security, but also our national natural heritage«
(Jaroslaw Krogulec, conservationist)
Poland’s wall is said to be legal because of a clause
The European Commission shared the concerns and called for the environmental impact to be assessed. However, the authorities gave Poland a way out. If the construction of the wall takes place “for compelling reasons of overriding public interest,” the government would only have to prove that there were no suitable alternatives and “take appropriate compensatory measures,” said a commission spokesman for the Reuters news agency. The Polish government also invokes this clause.
Currently, only a few people are trying to get to Poland via Belarus, reports Jaroslaw Krogulec. He is responsible for nature conservation at the Polish Bird Protection Association. Like many Poles, he is shocked by the pictures of migrant families who stayed unprotected in tents in the border area between the two countries in winter. “We are not against protecting the border, but it has to be humanitarian, that should distinguish our government from a regime like that of the Belarusian ruler Lukashenko.”
None of the opponents of the Wall questioned the need for border protection. “A certain presence is necessary, and maybe there even has to be barbed wire in some places,” says Krogulec, for example. But border security at a modern level in other countries shows that there are smarter options using electronic systems, drones and other technical solutions, he argues.