MINSK, 26 August (BelTA) – Refugees from Afghanistan say Latvian authorities had treated them roughly and had denied asylum to them, the State Border Committee of Belarus told BelTA.
According to the source, the migration situation at the Belarusian-Latvian border remains tense. On 25 August personnel of the border guard station Bigosovo of the Polotsk branch of the Belarusian border service stopped another attempt to illegally expel migrants from Latvia to Belarus. In particular, personnel of the Latvian border service used physical force to transport 21 Afghanistan citizens, including 11 kids, to the state border line.
Migrants told border service personnel that they arrived in Latvia on 23 August in search of a better life and intended to move on to Germany. They were detained and kept by the Latvian border service in bad conditions, had no medications or hot food, and even a request for milk for small kids was left unanswered. Later on despite statements about the provision of refugee status the entire group was deceived and transported to various parts of the Belarusian border. The migrants were told that Latvia was not open to refugees and that vehicles had been waiting to transport them to Germany.
The foreign citizens told the Belarusian border service that they had been brought to the border line at night and had been forced to go in the direction of the Belarusian territory.
