It is a puzzling encounter, at the bend of a walk in the forest, that she will not soon forget. When Marcelina Zimny found him in the woods at the end of October, Amin was exhausted, starving. A week earlier, the young man of 27 left his native Iran in search of a one-way ticket: towards Minsk in the hope, then, of reaching the west of the Old Continent. Except that nothing went as planned. Here he is found in Poland, alone, in the dense primary forest of Białowieża, on the borders of Europe.
“He had already been robbed and beaten by Belarusian forces,” said Marcelina, a 45-year-old Polish woman who lives in the village of Białowieża, located one kilometer from the border with Belarus.
Like thousands of exiles, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, Amin let himself be tempted by the new migration path orchestrated at the start of the summer by the regime of Alexander Lukashenko. The goal of the Belarusian dictator, more brutal than ever to crush dissent within his country, is beyond doubt: to provoke a migration crisis on the eastern borders of the European Union in retaliation for the sanctions imposed by Brussels last June. All this, while making these candidates for exile, by granting all kinds of tourist visas, an easy passage to Germany via Belarus.
But this cynical ploy is turning the majestic Białowieża forest into a cemetery: on both sides of the border, more than a dozen deaths have already been reported. Drownings, but also deaths due to hypothermia, exhaustion or hunger.
A macabre toll that remains largely underestimated, according to humanitarian organizations on the spot. And the Belarusian authorities may have organized the repatriation of a few thousand Iraqis, in recent days, there would still be some “10,000 foreigners in Belarus planning to cross the border illegally”, according to the authorities of Straż Graniczna (guards – Polish borders). An assertion which, for the time being, remains unverifiable.
However, faced with what she describes as a “hybrid war” waged by Minsk, Poland under the orders of the Law and Justice party (PiS), the national-conservative party in power, shows itself intractable: its border guards practice a policy. almost systematic refoulement, despite international conventions on asylum rights. Except that where the migratory journey begins, on the Belarusian side, Lukashenko’s henchmen, quick to use violence, often prevent any turning back.
Access to NGOs prohibited
Lured, Amin quickly realized the dead end he had found himself in. “All he wanted, when we spotted him, was to go home,” says Marcelina, a biologist by profession. “We helped him punctually by feeding him, treating his wounds and warming him. We felt so helpless leaving him in the woods… But we managed to contact his family, left without news, to let them know that he was still alive. In the meantime, we have notified the consulate [iranien] to ask for help. And this is how Amin was able to be repatriated to his home in Tehran, avoiding an eighth refoulement in the border no man’s land. “But I am ashamed of what he had to undergo in my country”, deplores Marcelina.
In Białowieża, for the past three months, the feeling of being on your own has dominated. Usually peaceful and known for its agritourism, the town of 3000 inhabitants is cut off from the rest of the world, as are the 182 other towns along the 400 km Polish-Belarusian border, where a state of emergency was declared in early September by the Polish authorities. Prohibiting access to NGOs as well as to journalists, this exceptional regime certainly ended on 1er December at midnight, in accordance with the constitutional limit. Except that the Polish authorities have used a legislative parade to maintain an exclusionary sector there, to the chagrin of humanitarian organizations: at the instigation of the PiS, a bill “on border protection” was passed and then hastily adopted on November 30, hours before the state of emergency expired.
Result: with the exception of the police and those who reside in the forbidden zone, three kilometers wide, hardly anyone is allowed to enter it. If access to the press has since eased slightly – very restrictive, the entry of journalists is done in a trickle – NGOs are still banned, starting with the Polish Red Cross.
“The place is cordoned off with police checkpoints, and we have to constantly justify our presence in the area. The simple fact of carrying water, a change of clothes, shoes or thermal blankets in his car attracts the suspicion of the authorities, deplores Marcelina. It is as if we, the inhabitants of the forbidden zone, were not concerned by the problem at the border. By simply wanting to act out of humanity, we run the risk of being accused of breaking the law. “
Overnight, Marcelina’s haven of peace turned into a militarized zone. Even his son’s nursery school is bathed in this dystopian atmosphere: opposite, a military camp has been improvised. “The village is crisscrossed by armored convoys at all times. Calls are heard through loudspeakers in foreign languages. At any time of the day or night, helicopters fly overhead, ”she says. In total, no less than 15,000 soldiers have been deployed in rural Podlasie, in eastern Poland.
“Tents of Hope”
Contrary to the intransigence of the PiS and the hostility of certain inhabitants, Marcelina is however far from being the only one to come to the rescue of these castaways of the forest. Spontaneous outbursts of solidarity manifested by the establishment, for example, of a container placed in front of the town hall of Białowieża containing food, survival blankets and clothing. Or by the installation, a little further in the main street, of “tents of hope”, very close to the parish of the village, on the initiative of villagers as well as the organization Caritas Poland.
“From the start of the migratory process that affected Białowieża, little by little, the mobilization was organized among the local population, but everything took place underground,” explains Rafał Lewandowski for his part. Together with other residents, this thirty-something is at the origin of the citizens’ initiative Białowieska Akcja Humanitarna (Humanitarian action of Białowieża), set up in November “as a remedy for impotence”, as he puts it. himself.
“Not everyone living in Białowieża has the Internet, the goal of this action is to be able to meet each other physically and coordinate better. Our goal is also to draw attention to the fact that we need humanitarian professionals. It is a signal for those who govern: because in reality, on this question, the State has abdicated. To go to the forest today is to prepare yourself mentally to be ready for any situation. “
The sense of urgency nevertheless extends beyond the forbidden zone. In the hamlet of Werstok, five kilometers from the border, a green glow sparkles above Kamil Syller’s porch after dark. The idea: to signal that by “knocking on the door, it is possible to recharge your phone, to receive a hot meal …”, explains this father with ecological convictions. Launched with his wife Marysia, this initiative, called green lights – the “color of hope” – was followed by other inhabitants of Podlasie.
A little further north, the Michałowo firefighters have no shortage of works either, in their barracks transformed into a collection center for basic foodstuffs. Starting with Commander Krzysztof Oczko, who makes rounds “every two days” in the woods, looking for refugees to give them food and drink. “It’s shocking to see children soaked, hungry, exhausted, these situations are not normal,” he admits.
But from these dramas sometimes emerge stories of friendship. Like that of Marcelina who intends to see Amin again, with whom she has remained in contact. “My dream is to invite her here one day. »In the hope of making him rediscover this forest, so dear to the researcher.