Belarus' Lukashenko accuses Lithuania of dumping migrants' bodies: 'What an abomination'

Amid the ongoing migrant crisis, Belarusian President Alexandar Lukashenko has accused the authorities in Lithuania of dumping the bodies of asylum seekers on the border between both the nations. However, Lukashenko’s dramatic claim has been rejected by Lithuania as tensions along the border continue to escalate between Belarus and its European Union (EU) neighbours.

As per The Associated Press, Lukashenko warned that his nation will be standing firmly behind its ally, Russia if Ukrainian authorities launch an offensive against the Moscow-backed rebels. Lukashenko reportedly tried to cast the tensions over migrants as part of a purported Western plot against Belarus and Russia. During the meeting with his top military brass that the country’s border guards found the bodies of two migrants left on the border over the weekend.

Lukashenko exclaimed, “They put a dead body, or, probably, a person who is still alive, in a sleeping bag and toss it on the border...What an abomination!”

Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service rejected the claims floated by Belarus and instead stressed that the Belarusian authorities have repeatedly tried to stage and direct beatings and deaths of the migrants. It is reportedly said that Belarus carried out its actions while blaming Lithuania for such “inhumane treatment”. Lukashenko, however, charged on Monday that Belarusian border guards had discovered several other migrants freezing in the cold weather and on the brink of death at an abandoned farmhouse near the border with Lithuania.

EU accused Belarus of 'hybrid attack'

Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) has accused the Belarusian leader of orchestrating a “hybrid attack” against the 27-nation-bloc by using the vulnerable migrants as ‘pawns’ and also by tricking them into trying to cross the EU borders of Poland and Lithuania. 

The EU said that Belarus’ actions are directed to destabilise the bloc in retaliation for Europe's sanctions imposed on Minsk. The European Union had slapped Belarus with sanctions following the latter’s brutal crackdown on the pro-democracy protesters. But, Belarus has dismissed the EU’s allegations.

Shooting back at the bloc, Minsk has accused the EU and accused it of failing to offer a safe passage to the migrants stranded at the border. Since 8 November, the large group of migrants including mostly Iraqi Kurds has been stranded in Belarus at a border crossing with Poland. Most of the migrants have attempted to avoid the tensions or hopelessness at home with an aim to reach Germany or any other Western European countries. 

(IMAGE: AP)