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Poland-Belarus migrant crisis: where is the EU? | Migration News

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Brussels, Belgium – Discussions are heating up in Brussels whenever the number of refugees on the borders of the European Union increases significantly.

Despite the European Common Asylum System, EU leaders are debating how to implement it in a unified way.

In recent months, there has been a migration crisis on the border between the EU and Belarus, where thousands of people are left cold, denied access to the EU.

The bloc has accused Belarus of making “weapons” to lure people from the Middle East into the EU’s borders to seek revenge against EU-targeted sanctions.

Some EU officials believe this episode has had a chaotic response again as a result of political disagreements.

“We continue to move from one refugee crisis to another, blaming other countries for our problems and denouncing reality. Instead, EU nations need to start implementing a common asylum policy together, “said Al Jazeera Sophie in ‘t Veld, a member of the Dutch European Parliament.

“What the Belarusian regime is doing is cruel. But when EU member states try to agree on a common migration policy and exclude migration management, other countries can easily take advantage of it, ”he said.

This situation was exacerbated last week when images of thousands of people walking towards the Polish-Belarusian border, seeking to enter Poland, went viral on social media.

“This is a hybrid attack. It is not a migration crisis, ”tweeted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Bram Frouws, head of the Joint Migration Center (MMC) monitoring team, explained that this response feeds into a narrative of the war.

“Since Von der Leyen called it a hybrid attack, I think that was what Lukashenko expected. Although we are talking about a few refugees and migrants trying to enter Europe, the language is about a war of political terror, ”Al Jazeera said.

“The moment you start referring to refugees and migrants as a weapon of exchange and instrumentalizing people, their agency is removed and people are dehumanized,” he said.

Rescue penalties?

With the aim of stopping undocumented migration in Belarus, the EU has set up a new sanctions list that it believes is aimed at all individuals and entities that are helping the Lukashenko administration push people to the border.

These new sanctions come despite Lukashenko’s threats to cut off gas supplies to the EU.

While the list of sanctions targets is yet to be finalized, Josep Borrell, the bloc’s top foreign and security policy representative, welcomed the decision.

“It reflects the European Union’s decision to tackle the instrumentalization of migrants for political purposes,” he said.

EU diplomats have also been pleased with the countries that have been transitional stops for migrants and refugees who have moved to Minsk.

Such a diplomatic lobby has been fruitful; Turkish authorities have banned people from Iraq, Syria and Yemen from boarding flights to Belarus. Iraqi airlines and Cham Wings Airlines in Syria have also suspended flights to the country. The United Arab Emirates has also restricted flights to Belarus.

“This is the moment when Europe is somehow counting our friends. We are very pleased to see that we have a lot, ”European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas told Lebanese journalists.

The three EU countries around Belarus – Lithuania, Latvia and Poland – have strengthened their borders, increasing the presence of guards and announcing plans to build a wall.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis spoke to reporters ahead of the last meeting of EU foreign ministers, proposing to turn Minsk airport into a “no-fly zone” and encouraged the repatriation of people.

The first repatriation of the Iraqi government is expected to take place on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Polish border guards have started using tear gas and water cannons to prevent them from entering against the people.

“It is amazing to see that the EU is showing solidarity with Poland when the country is allowing a humanitarian crisis to unfold,” Philippe Dam, European and Central Asian Director of Promotion at Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera. “These people have been manipulated in this scheme. The EU should question how it should help them and not just how to respond to Belarus. “

Experts on human rights and migration made comparisons between the current situation and the 2015 European refugee crisis.

“In 2015, it was the first time that refugee policy was discussed at the national level in Poland. Right-wing groups began to feed anti-immigrant sentiment, referring to migrants as terrorists who would destabilize Poland and the EU, ”said Al Jazeera Marta Gorczynska, a human rights lawyer living in Warsaw. “But people who are afraid of refugees often don’t know anything about them.”

He explained how Poland and Belarus have stopped helping local people on the border.

“A lot of the people who live in this border area are old and lived through World War II. They know what it’s like to be a refugee. Initially, the doors were kept open to help those who remained in the forest, but Polish border guards ordered them not to do so, ”Gorczynska said.

This crisis is facing a tense scenario, as Poland has confronted the EU because of the dominance of EU law.

According to ‘t Veld MEP, Warsaw is playing a dangerous game.

“It is interesting to see that Poland, which has been one of the strongest opponents of the EU’s common asylum system, is now asking the EU for help to fund the border wall,” he said.

“We are talking about thousands of migrants. The wall is not the solution. It is time for EU nations to speak with one voice on migration. Patriotic dialogue brings the Union to the brink. ”

The way forward

As political tensions rise, refugees continue to suffer.

An EU spokesman said the bloc was coordinating with the United Nations to provide immediate humanitarian assistance and help people return to their countries of origin.

But Gorczynska called on the EU to stop the setback for Belarus and instead develop safe and legal ways to allow migration.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has also held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko’s main ally, to remove the situation.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, EU Foreign Minister Borrell said: “I don’t think Lukashenko is doing what he is doing without the strong support of Russia.”

The Kremlin has denied involvement and pushed for the opening of direct channels of communication with Belarus.

MMC’s Bram Frouws said: “The dialogue is always good with Putin, Lukashenko and even the countries of origin of migrants coming to Minsk. But the wall and militarization are never the right approach. It only exacerbates the situation and makes the EU look very weak.”



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