Switzerland: Belarus, Poland should address 'appalling' refugee border situation – UN spox

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The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) urged Belarus and Poland to address the ‘appalling situation’ at their border on Tuesday in Geneva, referring to the pushing back and forth of refugees without access food or shelter.

In November, thousands of migrants set up tent camps on the Belarus-Poland border and attempted to cross the frontier. The EU has accused Lukashenko of orchestrating the migrant flow as part of a ‘hybrid war’ designed to pressure the bloc over sanctions. Minsk has denied the allegations.

SOT, Elizabeth Throssell, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesperson (OHCHR): “From 29 November to 3 December, a UN Human Rights team visited Poland. We thank the Polish Government for its cooperation and ongoing dialogue, although our team was not granted access to the restricted border area. Belarus regrettably did not accept our request to visit. During the team’s visit, they met government officials and representatives from civil society, among others, and conducted 24 interviews with 31 people – nine women, one girl, nine men and five families – who had arrived in Poland through Belarus between August and November this year.”

SOT, Elizabeth Throssell, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesperson (OHCHR): “Those they interviewed described dire conditions on both sides of the border, with no or limited access to food, clean water and shelter, often amid freezing temperatures. The majority said that, while in Belarus, they had been beaten or threatened by security forces, and also alleged that the Belarusian security forces forced them to cross the border, instructing them when and where to cross, and prevented people from leaving the border area to return to Minsk. Several interviewees said Belarusian security forces had demanded extortionate sums for food and water.”

SOT, Elizabeth Throssell, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesperson (OHCHR): “Our team also heard numerous reports of people being immediately and automatically returned to Belarus from Poland, including children and individuals who said they had requested international protection. Recurring practices by the two countries of pushing people up to, or across, the border meant many migrants and refugees the team interviewed had crossed the border multiple times, in both directions.”

SOT, Elizabeth Throssell, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesperson (OHCHR): “Poland also systematically detains those migrants and refugees whom it has not returned to Belarus. Many of those interviewed said they had not been given proper physical and mental health care in detention, and had limited contact with the outside world, including with independent lawyers, human rights monitors and civil society organisations.”

SOT, Elizabeth Throssell, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesperson (OHCHR): “We remind Poland that detention should be an exceptional measure of last resort, and only be used for a limited period of time, if at all. Immigration detention of children is never in their best interests. Polish authorities should make use of non-custodial alternatives to detention.”

SOT, Elizabeth Throssell, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesperson (OHCHR): “The team also heard about the challenging conditions in which those supporting refugees and other migrants—as well as journalists covering the situation—are working, including cases of harassment and intimidation. In an atmosphere dominated by a focus on security and fuelled by anti-migrant narratives, practices and policy choices are being made on both sides that violate the human rights of refugees and migrants.”

#Belarus #Poland #Refugees

Video ID: 20211222-001

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