MINSK, 13 October (BelTA) - Polish security officers fire shots to intimidate refugees, the State Border Committee of Belarus told BelTA.
"In addition to forcible delivery of refugees to the Belarusian border, shooting is becoming another normal for Polish security forces. Impunity and a lack of reaction from the Polish authorities to such incidents encourage Polish border guards to be more hostile towards migrants,” the State Border Committee said. “Yesterday, Poland brought another group of refugees with women and children to the border. The foreigners publicly stated that they were fleeing the war. They asked to be returned back to Poland and to be allowed to to apply for asylum. In response, one of the Polish soldiers fired shots into the air and then pointed the weapon at the group of migrants."
In addition, the Polish security forces deployed military barriers on the way of migrants, deliberately creating obstacles that pose a threat to their life and health. "We do not rule out that the Polish border guards may try again to accuse the Belarusian side of shooting at the border in order to conceal another fact of their own wrongdoing," the committee said. “It is regrettable that such actions of Polish law enforcement officers are still ignored by international human rights organizations, European media and ordinary EU citizens who are not indifferent to the fate of families who had high hopes for ‘democratic values and human rights'.”
