MINSK, 23 July (BelTA) – Refugees from Iraq, Congo and Somalia spoke about abuse and brutality by Latvian security forces at the border with Belarus in the Inhumans documentary on Belarus 1 TV channel, BelTA has learned.
The documentary features migrants who were brutalized in the border areas of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. Refugees from Syria, Iraq, Congo, Morocco and other countries recount the atrocities they experienced or witnessed in the border zone.
An Iraqi family of six who were heading to Germany were caught by European security forces. Latvian border guards beat them and pushed them into Belarus. Even the children were not spared.
“I was very scared by how the army treated my children. I am afraid of death. I am afraid for the children. Look at them, they are ten years old,” a woman named Hadil cried as she recounted her horrific experience. Recalling these ordeals, the boy named Ali could not hold back tears, because he was sure that he would not survive that night.
“It’s simply unacceptable to beat the defenseless. We have been going without food and water for very long. We have been through terrible things. We are so scared. We were subjected to degrading treatment and beaten like animals,” a man named Hasan said recalling the abuse by Latvian border guards. According to Hasan, the border guards beat him with their hands and legs and also used stun guns.
Cousins from the Democratic Republic of the Congo also recalled the use of stun guns. “They beat us with a stun gun, pushed us, then beat us again. I was beaten to a pulp. We couldn’t walk,” one of the women cried. Back in the Congo, terrorists killed her child, and on the way to Europe she faced the abuse by the Latvian border guards. Now the women cannot get to their feet without help.
18-year-old Maryam from Somalia also lost her child. But not in her home country, which is considered one of the unsafest places in the world, but at the border of a “civilized” European state. “I fled from Somalia with my husband. We wanted to get to the Netherlands. I lost my baby at the border. The baby is gone,” the young girl shared her tragedy.
Maryam was found in Verkhnedvinsk District near the border with Latvia. Local residents heard her crying for help. The doctors said later: had she not been rushed to hospital, she would have died, like her unborn baby. She dreads to talk about her ordeals and wants to forget what happened.
“The young woman was in critical condition, in stupor. Her heart rate was 150-155 BPM. Her blood tests were extremely bad: her leukocyte count was 47, well above the normal range of 10-12 in pregnant women. Taking into account that vaginal delivery was not possible due to her condition, she was operated and put on life support,” Deputy Chief Physician of Vitebsk Oblast Maternity Hospital No. 2 Valeria Semyonova said describing Maryam’s condition.
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