MOSCOW, 9 November (BelTA) – Belarus' Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei who is on a visit to Moscow has commented on the situation with the refugees trapped on the Belarus-Poland border that recently grabbed international headlines as he talked to a BelTA journalist.
“It is true, the situation on the Belarus-Poland border remains tense. Moreover, this is the first time in the history of contemporary Belarus that we have faced such a situation. Many competent comments have already been made in this regard, including by the State Border Committee of Belarus, Russian counterparts, and so on. There is no point in repeating them. I believe that tomorrow this topic will be raised with Sergey Lavrov at a joint meeting of the collegiums of the foreign ministries of the two countries,” the Belarusian foreign minister said.
According to Vladimir Makei, more than 2,000 desperate people remain on the border line, including women and children. “This human, humanitarian aspect is of the greatest importance now. All of them come from disadvantaged countries that experienced the intervention of Western states. These refugees directly say that they have no plans to stay in Belarus, they want to apply for asylum in the EU. Instead, people from the other side of the border are using tear gas, shooting over the refugees' heads and bringing large-caliber military weapons to the border,” he stressed.
"Numerous violations of human rights and fundamental international documents are obvious,” Vladimir Makei noted. "All this is happening right before the eyes of the European Union, which positions itself as the staunchest advocate of human rights and which patronizingly teaches everyone to respect them."
“Okay, Poland is a EU country. But the silent position of the United States, which is calmly watching Poland mistreating one of its main allies, the Kurds, is completely incomprehensible. After all, the majority of refugees on the Belarusian-Polish border today are Kurds. Just recently, in September, I quote ‘U.S. President Joe Biden promised the West's closest allies in Syria that he will not abandon them as he did Afghanistan'. They even sent a high-ranking representative of the U.S. Department of Defense to the east of Syria to give personal reassurances to the Kurds," Vladimir Makei said.
“Let me reiterate: we have repeatedly stated our readiness for dialogue on all issues. Belarus has repeatedly called on European states to stop discriminating against refugees because of the route they chose. Ignoring the situation by the EU carries high humanitarian risks, primarily for refugees," the Belarusian minister summed up.
