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Sokolka, Poland – Since mid-October, grassroots entrepreneurs working near the Polish-Belarusian border have received nearly 3,000 calls for help, a sign of the growing humanitarian crisis, which adds to the lack of large-scale professional organizations allowed to work on the ground.
At a press conference in the forest outside a protected area on Friday, activists called on Poland to give NGOs greater access, as they received photos of those trapped on the border. Telling these experiences and the desperate text messages they received from refugees, some came close to tears.
A day earlier, a 14-year-old man was reported frozen to death near the Belarusian border. Activists say they have heard the news from people trapped in Belarus, but it is impossible to verify.
In total, at least 10 people have been killed in recent weeks on both sides of the border, a number that includes children and is likely to be underestimated.
Under the state of emergency that began in September, Poland does not allow NGOs to enter an emergency zone where many refugees and migrants are stranded as a result of a political clash between Belarus and the West.
The area, located 3 km (about 2 miles) from Belarus, is home to 200 sleepy villages. Only those who prove that they are local residents can pass through one of the roadblocks set up to enter.
This is why, for the most part, self-organized small groups have been on the front lines providing aid, and the situation is becoming increasingly tense.
Each day is colder than the last and the daylight goes out around mid-afternoon when the temperature drops in the dark. By preventing collaborators – and journalists – from entering the border area, it is becoming increasingly difficult to understand the size of what is happening just a few kilometers from secure checkpoints.
Armed soldiers are stopping and stopping cars at checkpoints, checking documents, checking car suitcases and asking for explanations about the reasons for the people around them.
The crisis has intensified this week after hundreds of other refugees fled to Poland.
Warsaw and its allies accuse Minsk, backed by Moscow, of directing the flow of refugees, encouraging people – many from the Middle East – to travel to Belarus and try to enter Poland.
Belarus’s attempt to destabilize Europe is said to be a revenge movement after Western nations imposed sanctions on the administration of President Alexander Lukashenko after reflecting on dissent after last year’s disputed elections.
As the war of words between officials continues, grassroots organizers are urging the broad European and international community to conduct a humanitarian intervention to save lives.
Many trapped on the border don’t even have the most basic clothing to last through the winter. Some of them are families with small children.
Michal, whose family has lived in the area for generations, is in the group of activists trying to help.
His house stands next to a cross in memory of the locals who protected Jewish refugees in World War II – a legacy that continues, he said.
“I want to emphasize that the natives are the first to help people,” he said, but added that the community cannot assume that responsibility alone.
“Professional humanitarian organizations should immediately enter the limited area,” he said. “It is time to stop the setbacks and help the border and not be violent,” he added, referring to the demands that Polish border guards are forcing people to return to Belarus.
European Coalition MEP Magdalena Adamowicz has said border security should not mean putting people’s lives at risk.
“Border security doesn’t mean people have to die there,” he said. “Men, women and children seeking security at the border do not mean leaving the local community alone or denying them humanitarian aid or illegal incentives.”
Last month, the Polish government moved to legalize people who crossed the border “irregularly”.
Activists and volunteers working on the ground told Al Jazeera that they were aware of the impetus, but that it was impossible without a process to quantify the number of people returning to Belarus, given the severe restrictions on the border area.
Reports of violence were also common, especially by Belarusian authorities.
Those who respond to the distress calls of people camping in the woods have often taken the time to try to help with their work.
Some have come from other regions of Poland and others as far away as Norway.
“Most of us have never met,” said volunteer Kasia Staszewska. “But it is unbearable and we are not able to respond to the size of the crisis. One of the ways is for professional humanitarian organizations to come. ”
An activist who worked on the Balkan route in 2015, at the height of the European refugee crisis, says he now sees a similar number of people arriving in Poland every day.
“We have failed as a people,” he said. “We are able to do much more than that, it is a humanitarian crisis caused by few people. The Polish government is acting like a weak state. ”
He said Belarusian authorities were primarily to blame for the humanitarian catastrophe, but that Poland needed to show EU values at this time of crisis.
Kalina Czwarnog has spent more than a month on the border, helping people trapped in the woods.
He is aware of the impulse, but cannot quantify the numbers.
“The numbers of people [pushed back] No one can say, a person can be pulled back several times, no one knows the actual number, “he said.” I found this Iraqi man, about 38 years old. In the swamp, he had early symptoms of a heart attack. We called an ambulance, they took him to the hospital. and several hours later he sent us a message that they had rejected him. ‘
Three days a week, he responds to forest distress calls.
“I’m better than some,” he said. “I know people who have been here for months at a time and you can really destroy them.”
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