‘Please save us’: refugees face death on the border between Poland and Belarus | Migration News

[ad_1]
Thousands of refugees and migrants trying to cross into the European Union are stranded on the Belarusian border. Poland has refused entry as a result of a clash with Belarus. Fears of their safety are growing amid freezing conditions, including a lack of essential supplies and medical care and numerous deaths on both sides of the border. Nidal Ibrahim, a Syrian refugee on the border, told Sara Cincurova of Al Jazeera about the suffering she and others had endured. Here is his story in his own words.
I am Nidal Ibrahim from Aleppo, I am 37 years old, and I am dying.
Me, my friend Muhammad and his four children came along with other refugees to the Belarusian border. We hoped we would reach Europe, but now we are stuck in the woods without water, drinking from the swamps, without food. The outside temperature is -5 or -7.
I am alive because I have three children who have lived in Turkey with my wife. For their sake, I have to survive. I love them and miss them so much.
I usually can’t sleep because of the cold and rain, but when I do, I dream about my wife and children and how we can live together in a safe place. I dream of my child going to school. But I can die at any moment.
In the woods, we have no shelter. My friend Muhammad’s four children are with us. I can’t describe what situation they are in. They are hungry and unable to sleep. Either someone has pity on us, or we die.
Before the Syrian war, I worked as a school teacher and primary school principal. My wife and I left Syria after losing some of our relatives. The Syrian war destroyed everything we dreamed of.
My wife studied law, but circumstances prevented her from completing her studies in Syria. We got married and had three children, two girls and a boy.
When we fled Syria, we tried to cross the Turkish border. We stayed at the border for 24 days. We finally entered Turkey on October 9, 2014.
I was in Turkey with my family for a long time, but my economic situation worsened when I was fired.
I was farming at the time: I had low wages and much less work in the winter because of the rain and bad weather. So I decided to go to Libya and from Libya to Europe by sea, but I couldn’t make the crossing because of the armed groups operating in Libya.
Then I heard that the road to Europe would be opened through Belarus. I hoped that I would reach Europe and then my wife and children would join me to lead a safe and dignified life.
I bought a visa and a plane ticket with a Belarusian company at an online office for $ 800. I was told that it would cost me another $ 500 to enter Poland. But when I reached the Polish border by car, my tragedy began. It was October 5th.
I saw people dying of hunger, thirst and cold at the border, but there was nothing I could do. Now I was fleeing death.
Right now, we usually sleep on the ground among the trees, but the weather is very cold. We can’t sleep. Sometimes we can light a fire, and other times we can’t, because of the rain.
The Polish authorities and the Belarusian army pushed us back and forth. The Polish authorities removed our SIM cards. We’re not going anywhere from here now.
Our feet are injured and we are in pain. We can never rest.
Today, however, I did not sleep because the temperature was too low. But yesterday, we found a bag with some bread and milk. We thank God.
It is very sad when you die of cold and hunger at the gates of Europe. I have nothing to say, but I am sad for my people, who are destroying me [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad.
Right now, I can only think about my children, and how I should stay alive. I talk to them and my wife on WhatsApp; I feel like they lost everything too.
I had to say goodbye when I left Turkey. It might have been the last time I saw it.
Please help just live. Please, someone, save us.
[ad_2]
Source link