Polish-Belarusian border: repatriation of children affects Poland

Status: 05.10.2021 6:28 p.m.

Belarus continues to send refugees across the EU border to Poland. And Poland is apparently sending many back – including children. That triggered a wave of protests.

By Jan Pallokat, ARD Studio Warsaw

The Nike Prize is the highest literary award in Poland. But at the gala at the weekend, the written word was initially emblazoned on cardboard signs, held up by numerous representatives from the world of literature: “Where are the children?”

The moderator responded: “We want it to be a carefree and happy evening, but your protest and the questions on the signs is something we cannot avoid,” she said. And further: “The questions remain unanswered, but we have to find answers.”

Recordings trigger protests

Where are the kids This question has been ringing all over Poland since journalists managed to take pictures of migrant families in a facility of the Polish border guards despite a state of emergency. Also to be seen behind a fence and a line of border guards: numerous children.

Children who, like adults – and as has become routine – were then “returned” to Belarus by the authorities. Border guard spokeswoman Anna Michalska said: “In accordance with the ordinance of the Ministry of the Interior, you were directed to the border line, that is to the place where you crossed the border.”

They did not ask for asylum in Poland, but only wanted to continue to Germany, it is said officially. This does not coincide with a report by the “Onet” portal, according to which people said they wanted to stay in Poland.

Government under moral pressure

But regardless of the question of whether the newcomers had formally correctly registered their request for protection and were adequately informed about their rights, regardless of whether the daily rejections are in truth illegal “pushbacks”, the images of children set who then disappear again , the Polish government is under moral pressure. And that, although the tough approach at the border actually brings and brought her approval.

The journalist Marcin Celinski said these days on the independent radio station “Nowy Swiat”: The surveys show that the attitude towards the refugees is roughly half-half, but I would like to point out a tendency. Just recently, 60 percent said ‘don’t help, don’t let them in’. But unlike in 2015, when they intimidated people with virtual refugees, we now see children being driven into a forest. Even the toughest person becomes softer in the face of such images, this is no longer a media game, these children are real. ”

And further: “We could see them for a while, and for several days they were gone, and the repeated questions about where they are remained unanswered.”

Michalowo lends a hand

But does the wave of compassion, beyond literary circles, really reach the general public? From Michalowo, the place where the recordings with the children were made, even the government-affiliated television reports on a wave of helpfulness: an emergency room has been set up in a fire station. Local residents apparently want to donate in large numbers. As people cross the border, shoes and clothing as well as blankets are particularly important, informs the community.

Journalists who kept in contact reported a partial answer to the question of where the children of Michalowo went. Two of them have been smuggled again, and now in a safe place, they report. Allegedly this “place” is in Germany.

Moral pressure: “Pushbacks” by children move Poland

Jan Pallokat, ARD Warsaw, October 5th, 2021 5:58 pm

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