Belarus-Poland border crisis: Stranded migrants 'drank from puddles' in brutal journey

Amid the worsening situation at the Belarus-Poland border, the stranded migrants have revealed the brutal conditions that they had to endure through their journeys with some of them even going multiple days without food or water. As per the CNN report, hundreds of migrants, who have been trying to cross into Poland from Belarus, are left in the border area in freezing conditions. The authorities reportedly appeared to have facilitated their passage into the European Union country through the border engulfed in crisis. 

The media outlet quoted Youssef Atallah, a 37-year-old Syrian who arrived in Poland following a third attempt at crossing the border from Belarus, recalling that his group of four was beaten by Belarusian guards upon arrival at the border. As per the report, Belarusian guards’ beating left Atallah with facial injuries, broken nose and even bruised ribs. While speaking at a refugee centre in Bialystok, the 37-year-old told the American media outlet, “They took us to the forbidden area. That was the first try to cross the border to Poland.”

Atallah also revealed that the officials refused to provide medical aid and even told his group of four to head to Poland instead of returning to the Belarusian capital Minsk. During the difficult journey, the Syrian said that he had no food and had to drink water from a swamp. He was further quoted by CNN as saying, “I saw stuff left by another refugee group (and) I found a cube of sugar. I just start sucking on it because I can't chew, I can't bite or anything.”

In recent weeks another Syrian woman that CNN spoke to said that she had flown from the Lebanese capital Beirut to Minsk. From there, she alleged that the Belarusian military helped her and a group of other migrants get to the border region and cut the border fencing. After Polish police repeatedly pushed her group back, the woman reportedly said that they begged Belarusian authorities for a safe passage back to Minsk airport but was refused. 

As per the aforementioned report, the woman said that she ended up trapped in the forest on the Belarusian-Polish border for at least 12 days before she was able to slip past the Polish police and cross the border into Poland. From there, she found a way to Germany which is also the preferred destination for many migrants, after hiring a “taxi” for $2,000. Recalling her treacherous experience to the media outlet from a refugee centre in the German town of Eisenhüttenstadt, the woman said, “I slept under a tree all the time. [The] first days we have a sleeping bag. [But] we lost everything when we walked [between] the trees."

She further told the media outlet, “Five days later we drink water from the floor. We don't have anything, they didn't help us” adding “We put a bottle on the floor ... we drank water from puddles...We cannot drink from it in the morning because it is black.”

What is happening at the Belarus-Poland border?

These migrants are some of the thousands of stranded people between Poland and Belarus who are stuck at the centre of an escalating geopolitical dispute that has pitted the European Union, the US and NATO against the Belarusian government. The West has accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of manufacturing a migrant crisis on the EU’s eastern border in a bid to destabilise the bloc as a retaliation to the sanctions over human rights abuses. However, his government has denied all the allegations and blamed the West for dangerous, fatal, border crossings and even poor treatment of migrants. 

According to the media report, the Polish border guard said on Thursday, 11 November that it recorded more than 1,000 crossing attempts in just the last two days. These attempts reportedly included some of the “large-scale” efforts with around 100 people trying to breach the fence. Migrants who have flocked the Belarus border with Poland, are hoping to get to Western Europe but since many of them are left stranded, they have started building makeshift camps in the area.

(IMAGE: AP)