Belarus: “Atrocities against refugees”… Poland says Belarus promotes violence
Belarus operates flights to repatriate Iraqi refugees… Germany ‘can’t accept refugees’
The battle between Belarus and Poland continued the next day over the physical clash between refugees from the Middle East and Polish security personnel at the Belarus-Poland border checkpoint on the 16th.
According to Interfax and Rianovosti news agency, the Belarusian investigative authority ‘Investigation Committee’, which investigates serious crimes, said on the 17th that the actions of Polish border guards and soldiers against refugees were ‘crimes against human safety and racial and ethnic characteristics. It was a large-scale atrocity,” he said, and an investigation was initiated.
It is said that the safety of refugees from the Middle East was seriously threatened by the use of excessive violence by Polish border guards and others in the process of stopping refugees from attempting to cross the border.
Belarusian authorities said Polish security personnel used water cannons filled with tear gas and chemically burned the eyes of some refugees.
He said that the investigation team is continuing investigation activities at the border checkpoint incident site.
On the other hand, Poland claimed that refugees made more than 160 illegal border crossings in one day starting on the 16th, and some used violence, and claimed that nine Polish border guards were injured in the process.
It also pointed out that the Belarusian border guards provided flash bombs to the refugees and incited the violence.
Earlier on the 16th, at the ‘Brusgi-Kuznica’ checkpoint on the Belarus-Polish border, hundreds of refugees attempted to cross the border by throwing stones and sidewalk blocks at Polish border guards.
A violent physical clash broke out between the two sides as Polish border guards used water cannons, tear gas, and flash grenades to stop them.
When border crossings were interrupted due to strong deterrence from Poland, some refugees who stayed near the checkpoint were moved to a receiving center set up by the Belarusian side or returned to a temporary refugee center in the woods a bit far from the checkpoint.
However, many refugees have set up tents near the checkpoints and are not retreating, Interfax reported.
Belarusian authorities reported that as of the morning of the 17th, about 2,000 refugees were still staying near the border checkpoint.
The refugee crisis in Belarus began in September when refugees from the Middle East, including Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, entered Belarus to enter the European Union (EU) and attempted to cross the borders of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.
Then, on the 8th of this month, thousands of refugees residing in Belarus flocked to the Polish border at once, attempting to cross the border, and the crisis escalated.
Poland has declared a state of emergency near the border area and has deployed military police and military equipment to confront the refugees.
The EU believes that the Belarusian regime, which is being sanctioned by the West over allegations of fraudulent elections last year, is deliberately bringing in refugees and driving them to EU countries to put a burden on the EU and create divisions within EU member states.
It also raises suspicions that Belarus’ ally, Russia, is planning a ‘hybrid attack’ using refugees and is instigating Belarus.
Belarus and Russia refute the claim, saying they did not contribute to the refugee crisis.
Meanwhile, the Belarusian Transport Ministry said on the 18th that a flight to repatriate Iraqis staying in their country would be operated on the 18th, and Iraqi Airways flights would be used.
The Iraqi embassy in Russia said about 200 Iraqis who had come to Belarus to go to EU countries wanted to return home, and that they had asked the embassy for help the day before.
Germany’s Interior Ministry reiterated on the 17th that it had no plans to accept refugees from the Belarus-Polish border.
However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke with President Lukashenko again on the same day as on the 15th and agreed to hold Belarus-EU negotiations to resolve the refugee issue, Belarus state news agency Velta reported.
/yunhap news
