Poland blasts migrants at Belarus border
WARSAW — Polish forces at the border with Belarus used a water cannon Tuesday against stonethrowing migrants, as Warsaw accused Belarusian authorities of giving smoke grenades and other weapons to those trying to cross the frontier.
The events marked an escalation in the crisis on the European Union’s eastern border, where the West has accused Belarusian President Alexander G. Lukashenko of using migrants as pawns to destabilize the 27-nation bloc in retaliation for its sanctions on his authoritarian regime. Belarus denies orchestrating the crisis.
The Polish Border Guard posted video to Twitter showing a water cannon being directed across the border at a group of migrants who appeared to be throwing objects.
Polish authorities said nine members of its forces had been injured: seven police officers, one soldier and a border guard.
Some 2,000 migrants were at the frontier in makeshift camps in freezing weather, but only about 100 were believed to be involved in attacking the Polish forces at the crossing near Kuz nica, said Anna Michalska, a Border Guard spokeswoman. The crossing has been closed to traffic since last week.
Police spokesman Mariusz Ciarka later said the migrants at the crossing had been “pacified.” He added that the attackers had been given smoke grenades by the Belarusians and threw stones at Polish police, with the entire operation monitored by Belarusian services using a drone.
The Belarusian State Border Committee and the country’s Foreign Ministry said they would investigate Poland’s actions.
“These are considered violent actions against individuals who are on the territory of another country,” committee spokesman Anton Bychkovsky was quoted as saying by Belarusian state news agency Belta.
Lukashenko on Tuesday again rejected accusations of engineering the crisis and said his government this fall has deported about 5,000 migrants who were in the country illegally.
“We’re not collecting refugees all over the world and bringing them to Belarus, as Poland has informed the European Union. Those who come to Belarus legally, we accept here, the same way any other country would. Those who violate the law, even in the slightest, [we put] on a plane and send back [home],” he told a government meeting dedicated to the situation at the border.
In May, however, he had railed against the EU sanctions imposed on his country for its harsh crackdown on internal dissent, saying, “We were stopping migrants and drugs — now you will catch them and eat them yourself.”
At Tuesday’s meeting, Lukashenko said he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed Monday by phone that neither Belarus nor the EU would benefit from an escalation of the border situation. He said he proposed a resolution but did not say what it was, adding that Merkel is discussing his proposal with other EU leaders.
Some of the migrants at the border have children with them as they make a desperate bid to reach the EU. Most are f leeing conf lict, poverty and instability in the Middle East and elsewhere. At least 11 deaths have been reported in recent weeks as the weather has turned colder and the migrants have been trapped in dank forest between the forces of the two countries.
Although some managed to get into the EU before Poland, Lithuania and Latvia bolstered their borders, passage appears to be much more difficult now.
Poland’s Defense Ministry said Belarusian forces have tried to destroy border fences; its Interior Ministry posted video that appeared to show migrants trying to tear down a fence. The Interior Ministry said the migrants are using smoke grenades and similar weapons given to them by Belarusian troops who no longer seem to be trying to conceal their involvement.
Poland has taken a tough stand against the migrants’ illegal entry, reinforcing the border with riot police and troops, rolling out razor wire and making plans to build a steel barrier.
The Polish approach has largely met with approval from other EU nations, which want to stop another wave of migration.
But Poland has been criticized by human rights groups and others for pushing migrants back into Belarus and not allowing them to apply for asylum.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei V. Lavrov called Poland’s actions “absolutely unacceptable,” saying they “violate all conceivable norms of international humanitarian law and other agreements of the international community.”
But Warsaw says Moscow bears some responsibility for the border crisis, given its strong support for Belarus. The Russian government has denied responsibility.
Events at the border have been difficult to verify. Poland has imposed a state of emergency, which bars reporters and human rights workers from the area. In Belarus, journalists face severe restrictions on their ability to report.
Poland’s parliament is expected to consider a bill to regulate citizens’ ability to travel in the border area after the state of emergency expires in December.
The EU has been pressuring airlines to stop transporting Syrians, Iraqis and others to Belarus, and the efforts are bringing changes. A travel agency in Beirut said flights to Minsk, the Belarusian capital, had been stopped. A Tuesday evening flight by Belavia, the Belarusian carrier, was shown as canceled on the Beirut airport’s website.
The Iraqi government urged its citizens who are trapped at the border to return home.
About 200 Iraqis who arrived in Belarus with plans to enter the EU have contacted the Iraqi Embassy in Russia, expressing a desire to return home, an embassy spokesman told the Interfax agency. The spokesman said an evacuation flight will leave Thursday from Minsk, and Belarusian authorities have helped bring migrants from the border.
Social media platforms used by Syrians and Iraqis to navigate the Belarus-EU track carried photos showing crowds along the border overnight. Some appeared undeterred by the restrictions, posting that they had received warm clothes and boots. Some messages celebrated those who made it across; a few urged migrants to head to the Belarus-Lithuania border.
Some posts described harsh treatment, including beatings, by Belarusian border guards, but most appeared to recognize that the route through Belarus might have come to an end.
“There is no more path to escape. By God, Minsk’s route has ended. What are the new roads?” one person posted on a social media platform.