[ad_1]
On the principle road of Szudzialowo, a village in japanese Poland, uniformed troopers stroll backwards and forwards between the village retailer and two container warehouses, carrying baggage with buns or Coke.
Some put on balaclavas, carrying weapons that ship a chill down the spines of tourists.
After 5 months, residents have grown used to the sight of the closely armed troopers, mentioned Hania, who lives in a neighboring village. “At first I related it with conflict, however now I do not react in any respect,” she mentioned.
Some neighbors even really feel safer because the troopers have been right here, she mentioned. The villagers might assume that the navy is there to defend them However in opposition to whom? In opposition to migrants. Or in opposition to Lukashenko. Or Putin. It would not matter: The principle factor is that the locals really feel protected.
On the native well being middle, an indication hanging within the window says “thanks.” Everybody right here is aware of for whom it is meant. Subsequent to it, on a fence within the middle of the village, hangs a banner with the inscription “#muremzamundrem.” Loosely translated, it means: “We stand behind you want a wall.” Once more, it is meant for the troopers.
Szudzialowo is a village in japanese Poland, barely 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border with Belarus. Simply behind it’s the forbidden zone, the place a state of emergency imposed by Poland has prevailed since September 2.
Since then, solely residents, utility corporations, rescue providers, police and the navy have been allowed to enter the realm. Refugee assist employees, journalists and humanitarian organizations, together with the Pink Cross, are prohibited from coming into.
Media border ‘safari’
Because the starting of December, the authorities have been permitting members of the press to make “journalistic visits” to the restricted zone on the border with Belarus — however solely underneath strict controls.
Polish journalists who’ve visited the area “embedded” on this method have spoken of the expertise being akin to a “safari”: a strictly monitored tour with a set route, throughout which members are allowed to “get to know” the border space by means of the automobile window. We went alongside.
Jeeps utilized by Polish border guards within the restricted zone close to the border with Belarus
In Szudzialowo, we acquired passes that allowed us to be within the restricted zone at a chosen time and solely within the firm of Polish border guards. Then we obtained right into a navy jeep that raced alongside nation roads and throughout frozen fields as if we had been being chased. Velocity limits and different site visitors guidelines do not appear to use right here.
The uniformed driver wore a masks that coated his face and remained silent throughout your entire journey. Once we requested questions, he referred us to the press spokeswoman of the Polish Border Guard, who was in a jeep forward of ours.
New EU fence
The spokeswoman determined the place we stopped and what we noticed. At our first cease, troopers stood in a subject in entrance of a razor wire fence. Up to now, she mentioned, there was no want for such boundaries on the border as a result of there was good cooperation with the Belarusian border guards. In a non-public dialog, she even advised us that the guards of the alternative sides of the border even took joint canoe journeys collectively.
Polish troopers at a razor wire fence close to Usnarz Gorny
However now, she mentioned, the Belarusian guards work with migrants to chop the razor wire collectively and blind Polish troopers with mirrors to allow unlawful border crossings. The barbed wire is quickly get replaced by a excessive fence, she mentioned.
This excessive fence, popularly generally known as “the wall,” has been formally underneath development since January 24. It’s going to encompass 5-meter (16.5-foot) posts topped with barbed wire and outfitted with movement detectors and infrared cameras.
About 180 kilometers of the border will should be paved, at a value of roughly €355 million euros ($396 million). Environmentalists and native residents have lengthy protested the set up, because the fence will reduce by means of the virgin forest on the border — disrupting the habitat of a number of wild animals.
Warnings to migrants
We stopped in entrance of a automobile parked in the course of a subject. From the loudspeaker on the roof, messages blared out in English, French, Arabic and a Kurdish dialect, telling the migrants on the Belarusian aspect of the border that that they had been cheated, that crossing the border into Poland is a punishable offense and that they need to return to Minsk , the capital of Belarus.
A picture from November reveals migrants within the forest close to the Poland-Belarus border
We reached Usnarz Gorny. It was close to this village that refugees from Afghanistan had been caught in limbo for 2 months on the Belarusian aspect of the border in the summertime of 2021 — blocked on each side by the nationwide guards.
The refugees acquired assist from activists and attorneys, they even utilized for asylum, however they weren’t allowed on Polish territory.
Violent border enforcement
We noticed stays of the makeshift camp that housed the refugees: tents, blankets and baggage. The world has not been cleaned up. “We aren’t allowed to try this,” the Polish police spokeswoman mentioned. “All of the issues are on the Belarusian aspect.” That was additionally the argument used in the summertime of 2021 to clarify why Poland couldn’t assist folks sleeping tough within the forest.
The stays of a makeshift camp that sheltered Afghan refugees in Usnarz Gorny
Now the place is abandoned. “Sooner or later they had been all of a sudden gone, in all probability taken away by Belarusian authorities,” the spokeswoman mentioned. In October, the Polish border company reported {that a} group of Afghans had damaged by means of the fence into Poland and had been detained.
In accordance with activists, pepper spray was used in opposition to the migrants. Then they had been reportedly pushed again to Belarus. We requested the spokeswoman what she is aware of about it.
“Anybody who wants assistance will get it,” she mentioned, “and anybody who desires to use for asylum can achieve this.”
Agata Ferenc, of the Ocalenie Basis, which helps refugees, was in Usnarz Gorny earlier than the realm was closed. Since then, she and a few fellow volunteers have been making an attempt to assist from exterior the restricted zone.
Support employees nonetheless obtain a few dozen calls a day from folks in want of assist who’re caught someplace alongside the border. “The very first thing they normally ask us is to not inform the border guards,” Ferenc mentioned. “They know the border guards will ship them again to Belarus if they’re discovered.”
This text has been translated from German.
[ad_2]
Source link
