The Belarusian human rights organization Human Constanta told the German press agency that those who did not make it across the border to Poland or the Baltic States have now spread to several cities in the country. “We don’t have a comprehensive list, but at the moment they are definitely going to Grodno, Brest and Minsk.”
For months, migrants, mostly from the Arab region, have been trying to get to the EU via Belarus. The EU’s external border is increasingly protected. It is difficult for migrants to overcome them.
The governments of Germany and Poland are accusing the Belarusian ruler, Alexander Lukashenko, of bringing refugees from crisis regions to the EU’s external border in an organized manner. Lukashenko announced at the end of May that he would no longer prevent migrants from continuing to travel to the EU – in response to tightened Western sanctions against the former Soviet republic.
According to the organization Human Constanta, many people are being held in the border area on the Belarusian side. “According to reports from migrants, groups in the forest on the border are guarded.” They would be forced to cross the heavily secured border into Poland. Those who could leave the area back inland are moving to larger cities, a spokeswoman reported.
In Grodno in the west they were accommodated in a hostel near the train station. After a group of Iraqis were arrested there a few weeks ago, they are now trying to avoid this place. In the capital Minsk, migrants are sometimes in hotels. “But you have the feeling that some have to live on the street.”
For many migrants, the passage via Belarus into the EU seems safer than, for example, the route across the Mediterranean. Around 15,000 people are said to be in the country, waiting for their chance to continue their journey. There are no official figures.
According to its own account, the organization can hardly help these people because it was banned by the authoritarian authorities in the course of cracking down on those who think differently after the mass protests against Lukashenko. “When migrants turn to us, we refer them to other organizations such as the Red Cross or the UN refugee agency UNHCR,” said the spokeswoman.
According to human rights activists, Belarus appears to be trying to limit the influx of migrants before winter. The number of flights from Iraq has decreased and tourist visas are no longer being issued. “However, eyewitnesses report that a large number of Arabic-speaking people arrive on flights from Turkey. We also assume that many will enter via Russia. “