More than 2,000 people are stranded in a makeshift camp on the Belarusian side, where they warm themselves by burning wood to withstand temperatures close to 0 ° C.
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“We call on Belarus and Poland to allow access to blocked border areas”, declared Thursday, November 11 on franceinfo the vice-president of Amnesty International France Jean-Claude Samoullier, while thousands of migrants are transported by Belarus to the gates of the European Union, at the border with Poland. “NGOs, observers and journalists cannot enter this area. We don’t really know what is going on there.”
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Amnesty International calls on Belarus to “allow these people to apply for asylum” and respect “free movement for those people who are prevented from leaving the border area”. The NGO also asks Poland “an end to violent and illegal pushbacks.”
“The political context cannot justify a case of violations of fundamental human rights.”
Jean-Claude Samoullierto franceinfo
The majority of migrants today on the Polish-Belarusian border “are Kurds, Iraqis or Syrians”, according to Jean-Claude Samoullier. “These people have the right to international protection and refugee status after a thorough analysis of their situation. This is why we cannot turn back people without having listened to their situation.”
Finally, Amnesty International calls on the European Union to “challenge state of emergency measures and legislative amendments” taken “in Poland, Latvia and Lithuania”. According to Jean-Claude Samoullier, these countries “authorize illegal refoulements”. Brussels is also invited to take “solidarity measures” to relocate people who have arrived on Polish territory. “These are only a few thousand people, not the migratory flows that we experienced in 2015.”