MINSK, 9 November (BelTA) – A group of refugees, most of whom are Kurds, remain near the Polish border fence, they set up camps directly at the border and are not taking any aggressive actions, official representative of the State Border Committee of Belarus Anton Bychkovsky told BelTA.
“The physical and moral condition of the people is extremely grave; they are depressed. There is not enough water and food. There are no conditions for daily hygiene in the camp. To make it worse, there is a significant number of pregnant women and babies among the refugees who are forced to sleep on the ground at temperatures close to zero. Some refugees feel unwell after the use of tear gas by the Polish side. To exert psychological pressure on the refugees, the Polish military used loudspeakers, searchlights, strobe lights all night long. Shots were also heard from the adjacent territory,” he said.
At the moment, Polish security forces are lining up in front of the refugee camp. They are reinforced by weaponry and other hardware. Journalists, representatives of international human rights organizations and charities who want to help the people seeking to apply for refugee status in the EU are not allowed to approach the border line from the Polish side.
“In the absence of objective reasons for the closure of the Polish border crossing point Kuznica Bialostocka, it is possible that this decision was made to prevent video recording and exposure of the use of force and weapons by the Polish military against the refugees. All these actions by Poland are aimed at concealing the real developments taking place on the Poland-Belarus border. Taking into account the strained situation, the border service of Belarus was beefed up to maintain security. The military are delivered by official transport,” Anton Bychkovsky said.
