Belarus, Poland violate human rights on their borders, NGOs complain

by

Both Belarus and Poland are committing “serious human rights violations” by migrants and asylum seekers at their borders, according to a report released by the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch.

According to the report, both the Belarusian and Polish authorities “have an obligation to prevent further deaths, guaranteeing unhindered humanitarian access to people excluded from the border area”.

HRW investigators interviewed in-depth 19 migrants and asylum seekers, the report said, revealing that several were “sometimes violently repatriated by the Polish border guards”.

The Human Rights Watch emphasizes that these deportations “violate the right to asylum enshrined in European law” and calls on the European Union to “begin to show solidarity with victims at the border on both sides, who are suffering and dying”.

In Belarus, he said, “violence, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment by the Belarusian border guards is a daily occurrence.”

In “some cases” migrants have been “tortured” in violation of “Belarus’ international legal obligations”.

“While Belarus has constructed this situation with no regard for human consequences, Poland bears part of the responsibility for the suffering in the border area,” said Lydia Gol, a HRW-based researcher in Europe and Central Asia.

The text of the non-governmental organization states that three immigrants accuse the Polish border guard of separating families, between parents and children, hospitalizing some who needed immediate help, but sending the others back to Belarus.

Ms Gol is urging Minsk and Warsaw to “end deportation ping-pong” and “allow independent observers, especially journalists and human rights defenders, access to border areas where restrictions are currently in place”.

Aid agencies estimate that at least 11 people have died on both sides of the border since the crisis began in the summer. HRW reports 13 dead.

The EU and the US accuse Belarus of orchestrating the crisis, calling it a “hybrid attack” in retaliation for European sanctions against the government of President Alexander Lukashenko. During his three decades in power, the head of state has cracked down on the opposition and the independent media.

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Lukashenko said the Belarusian border guards “might” have helped migrants cross, but denied that his government had brought them to Belarus. He urged the EU to welcome them.

According to the Belarusian authorities, there are currently about 7,000 migrants and refugees in the country.

.

You May Also Like

Recommended for you