Status: 11/14/2021 5:32 a.m.
Thousands of people have been waiting at the Belarusian border for days at temperatures around freezing point. President of the Bundestag Bas calls for rapid help from the EU. Meanwhile, the dispute between Belarus and Poland continues to escalate.
Bundestag President Bärbel Bas has called for quick help for the migrants on the Polish-Belarusian border. “People are being brought to the border with the EU with a false promise. They are being abused,” said the SPD politician in the newspapers of the Funke media group. She warned: “We must not allow people and their fate to be used as leverage.” Europe must quickly agree on how these people can be helped.
Bas also spoke out in favor of building fortified border fortifications. “Fences and walls at the borders should be dismantled wherever possible. That also corresponds to my thoughts on Europe,” she said. “Unfortunately, given Lukashenko’s policies, this is unthinkable.”
Baerbock: Immediate aid is now the most urgent
From the point of view of the Greens leader Annalena Baerbock, humanitarian emergency aid is now the most urgent. “Therefore, aid organizations must be allowed into the closed border area immediately. I appeal to the Polish government to make this possible and to accept the EU’s offers of support – also with regard to joint border protection,” she told “Bild am Sonntag”.
In temperatures around freezing point, thousands of migrants have been waiting for several days on the Belarusian border in makeshift camps in the forest. The Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko is accused of bringing refugees from crisis regions to the EU’s external border in an organized manner.
Kretschmer against accepting migrants
Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU), however, spoke out against giving people shelter in Germany. “We are not allowed to accept these migrants in the EU or in Germany,” he told “Bild am Sonntag”. “We have clear rules on immigration. Recognized refugees or skilled workers can come. Neither is the case with the migrants who were lured by Lukashenko. We have to show the dictator in Minsk that this measure will not be successful . Then he will stop the people smuggling, “said Kretschmer.
Society has to endure images of people in need at the border and help Poland secure its external EU border. “Warsaw is doing the right thing, so we mustn’t stab Poland in the back,” said Kretschmer.
Soldiers apparently destroy border barriers
Meanwhile, the border dispute between Belarus and Poland continues to escalate. According to the Polish border troops, Belarusian soldiers started destroying a temporary border barrier near the village of Czeremcha during the night and blinded Polish security forces with laser beams.
Nearby, 100 migrants were waiting to cross the border. “The Belarusians provided the foreigners with tear gas, which was used against the Polish services,” declared the border troops. A border crossing of the crowd had been prevented.
A total of nine dead
The Polish police had previously found the body of a young Syrian in the forest on the border with Belarus. According to the officials, the dead man was discovered the day before near the village of Wolka Terechowska. The exact cause of death could not be determined, it said.
In the migration conflict with Belarus, which has been going on for several months, a total of at least nine deaths have been reported.
EU: Lukashenko creates instability in the confederation of states
Meanwhile, the private Syrian airline Cham Wings suspended its flights to Belarus. The Turkish government had previously banned people from Syria, Iraq and Yemen from traveling to Belarus. Turkish Airlines offers one of the most popular international connections to Minsk.
The EU accuses the government of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of promoting a new wave of mass migration and thus creating instability in the confederation of states. He wanted to retaliate for sanctions that the EU has imposed on his government for brutal actions against dissidents in Belarus.
The EU speaks of a “hybrid attack”. Belarus has denied the allegations, but also stated that refugees and migrants would no longer be prevented from trying to enter the EU. According to the Polish border guards, there have been 33,000 attempts to cross the border illegally since the beginning of the year, 17,000 of them in October alone.
Instead of blockades tents for migrants
Poland, Lithuania and Latvia recently expanded their border security to block the new migration route. With the approaching winter and sinking temperatures, the situation is becoming more and more dangerous for the numerous people staying in the border area.
An easing of the situation is not in sight. The Belarusian state news agency Belta reported that Lukashenko had ordered the military to erect tents on the border. Food and other humanitarian aid could be collected there and distributed to the migrants, it said.
With information from Jan Pallokat, ARD Studio Warsaw