A British newspaper writes about the suffering of Yemeni refugees on the borders of Belarus and Poland
English - Sunday 12 February 2023 الساعة 02:03 pm
NewsYemen, Translations
The British newspaper "Open Democracy" said that the Polish border guard documented more than 15,000 attempts to cross the border from Belarus last year, and more than 40,000 in 2021.
In a report prepared by Bogomila Hall, she added that among those trying to cross are Yemenis fleeing their homeland, which was devastated by war and poverty.
Hall stated that the Polish border guards have documented at least 34 deaths along the Polish-Belarusian border since August 2021, although the true number of deaths is likely to be much higher and may never be known, as it is possible that some of the bodies were preyed on by animals before they were discovered.
He added, "Since 2019, I have been working on a research project that follows the cross-border migration journeys of Yemenis. In our conversations, Yemeni refugees who arrived in Germany via Belarus and Poland described the Eastern European forests as a graveyard." Someone told me, "You see dead people, you see people dying, and they're in the worst kind of horrible state."
But the prospect of death is no deterrent for those who live in the shadow of war and disaster. "We're dead anyway" is a common phrase I often hear.
He noted that Yemen has been devastated over the past eight years by war. Lives, livelihoods, the economy and infrastructure have been destroyed, and the country has been ravaged by cholera, hunger and corona. He added, "In areas controlled by the Houthis, employees work without salaries, people are forcibly disappeared, and children are recruited by the Houthis."
And he added: "Desperate to escape the devastating effects of war in their homeland, Yemenis are forced to embark on these perilous journeys, because their passports give them little ability to move safely and freely."
As for those who want to seek asylum in Europe, travel through Belarus and Poland is common, because the Belarusian president lifted visa restrictions in 2021, allowing people to travel there. Although the restrictions have since been reimposed, Yemenis can still fly to Russia and pay to be smuggled to Belarus.
The risks of crossing into Poland are partly due - the report says - to the brutality of the Belarusian border guards, who migrants say facilitate their movement, but they also abuse, blackmail and torture them.
He continued, "One Yemeni refugee told me that when he pretended to be dead to avoid further beatings, Belarusian border guards shoved an egg down his throat." Another refugee, who asked to be allowed to return to Minsk, said that border guards threatened to cut off his fingers with the bolt cutters they use to cut the barbed wire through which they push migrants into Poland.
Others said they were made to repeat words in what they assumed were Belarusian, only to be mocked and beaten with guns or tree branches for every mispronunciation.
The writer continued: "Youssef, 24, told me that Belarusian soldiers crammed him and dozens of others into a pickup truck on top of a dying man, and ordered them to dump him on the Polish side of the border."
on the Polish border
Poland has committed to securing the border, but has done so without much pretense. As refugees began to arrive, a state of emergency was imposed in Poland's eastern border region on September 2, 2021, turning the region into a heavily militarized zone.
In order to detect and catch migrants, the area of more than 180 villages and towns was full of border guards, dogs and drones. Soldiers, police and territorial defense forces were brought in from all over the country.
The area was closed and journalists, humanitarian organizations, activists and ordinary people were not allowed to enter.
The Polish Border Guard Agency admits to having forcibly returned more than 50,000 people to Belarus. Among these pregnant women and the seriously ill, some were removed from their hospital beds and sent to the border. The vast majority of those who are not allowed back end up in detention centres.
But the story - and the author of the report - of suffering and violence is not the only story that can be told about the borders. There is also solidarity, generosity and kindness, which in the face of state violence can keep people moving and living. After all, despite all efforts to deter them, tens of thousands of migrants passing through Belarus have managed to reach the Western European countries of their choice.
"When the Yemeni people I met told me about their experiences hiding in the Polish forests, they spoke of strangers who had become companions who looked after each other, shared resources, and cared for the most vulnerable," he said.
He told the story of a Yemeni immigrant, who said: "Hussein almost drowned in a swamp, but he was pulled out and offered a set of dry clothes by his companions, whom he had met only a few days ago."
"I couldn't have done it on my own," he said bluntly. Thanks to this fraternal exchange, people survive and advance through the forest.
He continued: "Two Yemeni friends described how they were carrying members of an Iraqi family, including a child and a woman whose leg was injured." "We can't abandon them," they said. "We thought they were going to die."
"As they spoke, I thought about how these young people reject a theme of much of the moral panic in the rhetoric about immigration - allowing people to die, while the Polish government, with the support of the European Union, is deliberately allowing deaths to happen," he added.
The report said: Activists and residents of the border area are responding to the violence and damage caused by the state, and an impressive network of people and organizations has emerged on the ground. They distribute hot soup, water, snacks, clothes and energy drinks to migrants stranded in the forests, despite outlawed solidarity with Polish activists trying to help refugees accused of people-smuggling and efforts to make their work impossible.
According to the writer, activists provide legal representation, which migrants rely on to submit asylum applications, and follow up on those who are intercepted in hospitals and border guard headquarters, in the hope that their presence will make returns more difficult.
