Warsaw: Amidst verdant forests, a dozen individuals huddled near a razor-wired fence on the Belarus border, awaiting an opportunity to breach it and journey westward into Poland.
On the Polish side, armed border guards and soldiers vigilantly patrolled, monitoring the group predominantly comprising young Middle Eastern men, some bearing wounds from the sharp wire.
Migration tensions reverberate across Europe, exacerbated by far-right calls for stricter controls pitted against centrist movements, particularly highlighted during the European Parliament elections in Poland.
The standoff here carries added geopolitical weight. Poland and the European Union have accused Belarus and Russia of fomenting chaos since 2021 by orchestrating migrant crossings, branding it a “hybrid war.” Minsk and Moscow have rebuffed these allegations.
Polish government statistics indicate a recent surge in arrivals, and the conflict escalated this week with the tragic death of a soldier wounded in a clash with migrants on May 28.
In response, the centrist, pro-EU government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk has proposed reinstating a no-go zone along the frontier to enhance security.
“This border is not safe, unfortunately. The purpose of this zone is to ensure that no one is exposed to the type of attack that Polish soldiers are exposed to,” stated deputy defense minister Paweł Zalewski to Reuters.
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Beyond the Barrier
Meanwhile, the group persisted in their vigil near the fence. Ahmed Lebek, 24, from Aleppo, Syria, recounted being there for over a month, while his brother, disheartened, returned to Belarus without further contact.
“I come from the war to find a good life. But I found it very hard to cross this border,” expressed Ahmed, an English teacher from Syria, who attempted to scale the fence four times.
Under existing protocols, migrants can seek asylum in EU-member Poland once they set foot on Polish soil. Among those successful was Noaman Al-Hemyari, a 24-year-old graphic designer from Yemen, who crafted a makeshift ladder with fellow migrants and crossed the barrier under the cover of darkness.
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Upon reaching the Polish side, relief washed over Noaman, who had endured 22 days of arduous travel from Yemen through Moscow and Belarus.
“The smugglers said it’s so easy… They lied to us. If I had any idea it’s like this, I wouldn’t have come,” Noaman confessed, still shaken from the ordeal.
The impending no-go zone poses further obstacles for migrants, observed Agata Kluczewska, who operates a local migrant support group. Kluczewska worries that more restrictive measures could strand individuals on the Belarusian side, necessitating a return to clandestine aid efforts.
“The zone rules will affect us very much,” she lamented. “We will have to start hiding again.”
