The European Court of Human Rights on Wednesday (August 25) asked Poland and Latvia to provide assistance and care for dozens of Afghan and Iraqi immigrants stranded at the Belarusian border.
The organization has been trapped on the eastern border of the European Union for two weeks, and the Polish army prevented them from entering and applied for asylum.
In recent months, thousands of migrants-mainly from the Middle East-have crossed the border from Belarus into the eastern European countries Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
Brussels believes that the Minsk regime deliberately planned a large influx to retaliate against EU sanctions — allegations that Belarus has denied.
Poland called this a “mixed attack” on the EU and ruled out the possibility of allowing them to enter, saying that they are still in Belarus and should intervene.
In a joint statement, the prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland stated that the influx of immigrants was “planned and systematically organized” by the Alexander Lukashenko regime.https://t.co/gMt6Psuz8U
-Radio Free Europe / Radio Free (@RFERL) August 23, 2021
The Strasbourg-based court’s decision is binding, requiring the Polish and Latvian authorities to “provide food, water, clothing, adequate medical services to all those who make the request, and provide temporary shelter where possible”, Until September 15th.
The judge made it clear that neither of these countries had been told to let this group of immigrants in.
A court statement stated that 41 Iraqi Kurds and 32 Afghans sought court help to enter Latvia or Poland and demanded international protection.
“Afghans are camping in the open air and there is almost no protection against heavy rain. There are no toilets. Refugees sit between Polish and Belarusian guards and prevent them from going anywhere.”https://t.co/CFQSpnZiCH
— Jeff Crisp (@JFCrisp) August 25, 2021
Afghan women “at risk of death”
A charity helping immigrants told AFP on Wednesday that a 52-year-old Afghan woman was trapped in a temporary immigration camp on the border between Belarus and Poland. Without emergency help, she could die.
About 30 migrants were trapped at the eastern border of the European Union for more than two weeks. Polish border guards and soldiers prevented them from entering and applied for asylum.
“We are worried about the life of a 52-year-old woman,” said Kalina Czarnog from the Ocalenie (Salvation) Foundation.
The foundation stated that the woman had respiratory and kidney problems, and a total of 12 immigrants are currently seriously ill.
“They have no drinking water. Since Polish soldiers prevented them from entering, representatives of the foundation have been communicating with migrants through loudspeakers, and they have not had food since yesterday,” the foundation said on Twitter.
The day after the UNHCR made a similar request, the European Commission Human Rights Commissioner Dunja Mijatovic also called on Poland to accept these migrants on Wednesday.
Poland is not the only country facing these difficult problems. Yesterday, I published a letter to the Lithuanian government, detailing my concerns. Many of these concerns also apply to situations faced by Poland and other European Commission member states. https://t.co/cbBefMbw9Q
-Dunja Mijatovic (@Dunja_Mijatovic) August 25, 2021
The Polish government has announced plans to build a tall barbed wire fence along one-third of its border to prevent further arrival.
