A view of sleeping bags at a transport and logistics centre near the Belarusian-Polish border in the Grodno region, Belarus Nov. 20, 2021.KACPER PEMPEL/Reuters
“Germany, Germany.”
This is what migrants were shouting from behind a fence at a logistics centre near Grodno when the United Nations refugee agency representative in Belarus, Mulusew Mamo, visited on Saturday.
Hundreds of migrants have been sheltering there since Thursday after Belarusian guards cleared out the temporary camp at the border.
Water tanks, hot food stations and portable toilets have been set up.
But as Mamo left the facility, he described the conditions as “horrible.”
The Polish Border Guard says there were fewer migrants trying to enter the country from Belarus, with 195 attempts to cross the frontier on Friday, down from 250 on Thursday.
In another potential sign of the situation easing, Minsk started to repatriate some people to Iraq.
But Warsaw warned that the crisis was far from over.
Speaking to Reuters from Poland, Kurdish human rights activist Ragaz Kamal said there are still a number of migrants stuck at the Belarusian-Polish border, and that many will continue to try and cross into the EU – if not now, then next year.
“Just yesterday night, a number of them were deported. But a number of them that were supposed to be deported decided that they will only be deported by force, by Belarusian guards. The Belarusian guards raided two hotels in Minsk and brought (the migrants) to Minsk airport and deported them, unfortunately. But they also decided yesterday night to come back to Europe again in the summer.”
Some migrants now staying on the Polish side of the border also told Reuters that even after the camp was dismantled, Belarusian security forces kept pushing them to cross the border.
Europe accuses Belarus of flying in thousands of people from the Middle East and pushing them to cross into the EU.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has repeatedly denied that he’s orchestrating the crisis.