Poles are divided on how to deal with the migrants entering their country from Belarus. Some of the residents of the border region want to help the hypothermic and hungry migrants. Others speak of “invaders” who must be “deported”.
If you go to the border villages in the evening, you will see a green lamp at some houses. The residents of those houses indicate that they want to help migrants. The action is an initiative of lawyer Kamil Syller. “I understood that we had to do something to get those people out of that cold, wet forest. We have to show them that there is a place they can knock on for help. Because they are terrified to walk into a village.”
At the same time, nationalist groups in the border region are taking to the streets to signal that the migrants are not welcome. “I don’t call them migrants, I call them invaders. Because they invade Europe,” says one of the nationalists. “They are not fleeing war. They have just found a back door to get to the EU.”
Most Poles support the government’s crackdown on pushing back migrants. Poles who want to help migrants are sometimes opposed. For example, the cars of five doctors who volunteer to help migrants were damaged last night.
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‘Mensonwaardig’
A hospital in the border region can hardly handle the crowds anymore. Director Tomasz Musiuk sounds the alarm. Many beds are filled with corona patients. In addition, more and more migrants are arriving who need help. “They are mainly exhausted. In addition, many are dehydrated. Recently we have cases of hypothermia. In some cases even life-threatening.”
Lawyer Kamil Syller assists migrants who end up in a Polish hospital. He calls it “dishonorable” how his country treats the migrants. “It still happens that people who are deregistered from a hospital, as soon as they can dress and walk independently, are taken to the border with Belarus.”
‘We must deport them’
Syller decided to set up the lights campaign, but sees few green lights hanging. Yet for him it almost feels like an obligation to help people. “We are doing something we have to do as human beings. It doesn’t matter that those people are a weapon in the hands of Belarusian President Lukashenko. Of course we know that.”
There is less empathy among the nationalist Poles. “We should not keep them here. We should deport them. And let President Lukashenko, who brought them here, keep them there. And solve the problem there. Not here,” says one of the participants in an anti-migration march .
There doesn’t seem to be a solution in sight. Tomorrow the EU foreign ministers will meet on sanctions against Belarus. The number of migrants needing help will continue to rise, hospital director Tomasz Musiuk thinks. “We may have more and more cases like this in the near future. As the weather in our region is getting worse, nighttime temperatures are already below freezing.”
Thousands of euros pay migrants to get to Poland. They do that via Belarus, because you can fly there from the Middle East in no time. Why do they want to go to Europe at all costs? And what do they do to get there? You can see that here:
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