Explained | What is the Belarus-Poland migrant crisis? What is Russia's role in it?

The migrant crisis at the eastern borders of Poland and Belarus has dramatically escalated as hundreds of asylum seekers, mostly from the Middle East and Asia, began to set up tents behind barbed wire fences in hopes of crossing into European Union member Poland and further into Europe to claim refuge. As of November 9, Polish authorities blocked at least 2,000 migrants who congregated at the eastern Poland borders, hurling logs of wood at the security forces. Furthermore, several migrants living under harrowing conditions at the border died in recent weeks as temperatures began to slump below zero.

There have been at least 4,500 recorded border crossing attempts according to Polish authorities. In the last week, around 1,000 attempted undocumented crossings were thwarted by Polish authorities, leading to detainment and further deterioration of crisis along the border. As per CNN, some migrants were also pushed towards the barriers by Belarusian services.

What has led to the Belarus-Poland migrant crisis?

Widespread violence in Belarus, following massive protests against the August 2020 election that reinstated authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko for the sixth term, was responded by Minsk with a fierce crackdown. This led to the arrest of more than 35,000 and another thousand being beaten by police. The mass violence carried out by the authoritarian regime was countered by the European Union and the US by imposing sanctions on Belarus.

The restrictions further tightened after Belarus diverted a Greece-bound plane to Minsk, where authorities detained journalist Raman Pratasevich. Calling it air piracy, the EU then barred Belarusian air carriers cutting imports of necessary commodities like- petroleum and potash (for fertilisers) to the country. Following this, infuriated Lukashenko refused to abide by an agreement to stem the illegal movement of migrants since the EU sanctions deprived his government of funds needed to curb the flow.

[Image: AP]

Thus began the flocking of migrants to Poland, Lithuania and Latvia borders. Planes from Iraq, Syria and other countries arrived in Belarus with a swarm of migrants, who later headed for the aforementioned borders.

Calling it a "new kind of war," the EU accused Lukashenko of orchestrating a "hybrid attack" against the 27 nation bloc. However, Lukashenko retaliated denying involvement in the migrant crisis, instead alleged that the EU is violating migrants' rights by refusing them safe passage.

What is Russia's role in the migrant crisis?

Moscow has remained a strong ally to Belarus helping Lukashenko with loans and political support. On several occasions, Kremlin has also claimed that the crisis is a result of US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had also challenged the EU to offer financial aid to Belarus to deal with the influx. Meanwhile, Moscow also refuted Poland's claims of Putin being accountable for waging war using migrants.

With inputs from AP

Image: AP