Belarusian assistance to refugees
A group of 32 refugees from Afghanistan, including women and children – have got trapped on the Polish-Belarusian border and, as the State Border Committee of Belarus reports, representatives of the UNHCR in Belarus and the Belarusian Red Cross Society rendered assistance to the asylum-seekers
As informed, in the absence of any assistance from Poland, the State Border Committee has for the second time enabled the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Belarus and the Belarusian Red Cross Society to bring the articles of prime necessity, food packages and water to the border line for the refugees detained by Polish security forces on the territory of Poland almost a month ago and taken to the Belarusian border.
While receiving the humanitarian aid, ‘the Afghans openly admitted that they were all exhausted and desperate but hopeful that Poland would consider their applications for asylum in the EU submitted through human rights defenders’.
Although the refugees stay on the territory of Poland and their documents are kept at Polish human rights organisations, the official Polish authorities take no measures to resolve the situation. Instead, the Polish border guards have erected a barbed wire fence which makes it physically impossible for Poland to provide any assistance to refugees. Representatives of the Polish security forces, who are on the border line, do not allow human rights defenders, humanitarian organisations and journalists to visit the refugees.
“Actions of the kind not only make it impossible for international organisations and European society to get reliable information, but also contribute to the concealment of Poland's illegal actions against people fleeing wars and seeking protection in the EU countries," the State Border Committee added.
