Minutes From Freedom and Miles From Home: The Belarus Border Crisis
The Bialowieza Forest is one of the largest remaining parts of Europe’s ancient woods. Located in Eastern Europe, the expanse of trees acts as a border between Poland and Belarus, though it is centuries older than any country. The miles of picturesque and serene woods are inhabited by ancient oaks, rare animals, and flourishing plants that normally exist in tranquility, undisturbed by humans. Now, it’s peaceful barriers have been destroyed and chaos is raging between the trees as thousands of displaced migrants must use the forest as shelter — but it’s not their fault that they’re there.
There is currently an influx of immigrants at Belarus’s borders with Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland. Belarusian President, Alexander Lukashenko, is entirely at fault for inciting this crisis, which began after he threatened to “flood” the European Union (EU) with human traffickers, drug smugglers, and armed migrants. To accomplish this, President Lukashenko took the racial stereotype route and worked with airlines in the Middle East to promote trips to Belarus by increasing the number of connections from the Middle East and offering Belarusian visas to whoever bought tickets. Once in Belarus, the migrants were instructed how to cross the border into Poland with false advice spread by pro-government social media groups, including where to cross and what to tell border guards. Some reported that Belarus authorities gave them wire cutters to open the fences and enter the EU. Those who were not able to cross successfully were allegedly forced to stay at the border by Belarusian authorities who would then beat them.
The border crisis was caused, in part, by Belarus’ tense relationship with the European Union, however, it is a manifestation of Belarus’s President, Alexander Lukashenko’s immaturity, stubbornness, and selfishness. The abuse, torture, and countless deaths of migrants at the Belarus border were all avoidable and can be traced back to President Lukashenko as he set these events in motion, choosing not to avoid the tragedy.
The relationship between Belarus and the European Union began to deteriorate after President Lukashenko was elected for the first time in 1994 and reached its worst in 2020. In August of 2020, Lukashenko was awarded a sixth Presidential term by the Central Election Commission of Belarus, a deputation which he controls. This was the fifth election deemed unfair by outside observers pronouncing Lukashenko victorious (besides his win in 1994). Lukashenko’s opponent in the 2020 election, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, claimed to have won 60% of the vote and called on the incumbent president to begin negotiations. Tsikhanouskaya subsequently created the Coordination Council to organize the transfer of power and her campaign made it clear that they would organize protests if Lukashenko didn’t step down. Following the formation of the Coordination Council, all seven of it’s members were either arrested by Belarusian authorities or exiled, making the committee useless. Various parties have called on the Election Commission to invalidate the results claiming widespread election fraud, though because the commission is government controlled, their attempts are to no avail. Many other countries won’t respect the results of the election, including all of those in the European Union.
Following the 2020 election, anti-government protests once held to combat Lukashenko’s campaign intensified and began growing the opposition movement against his administration. During the protests, protesters were violently persecuted by officials, with the United Nations Human Rights Office reporting more than 450 documented cases of torture, sexual abuse, and rape of detainees. By the end of 2020, there were more than 1,000 testimonies of torture victims. In response to these monstrosities, the EU imposed sanctions on Lukashenko and several Belarusian officials responsible for inciting violence and repression of the opposition movement, as well as economic sanctions on the country’s firms that finance the self-proclaimed president.
President Lukashenko’s is also at fault for the hijacking of Ryanair Flight 4978 and the arrest of two innocent civilians. On May 23rd, 2021, a commercial flight to Lithuania from Greece was diverted to Minsk by the Belarusian government while in Belarusian airspace. The airplane was escorted to Minsk National Airport by a fighter jet on suspicion of a bomb, as ordered by President Lukashenko. After landing at Minsk National Airport, security searched the plane to find no bomb, and two passengers — Roman Protasevich (a Belarusian opposition activist) and his girlfriend — were escorted from the plane and arrested.
The reality of the alleged bomb threat is disputed: the director of the Department of Aviation of the Ministry of Transport of Belarus claimed that the Minsk airport received a threatening email containing demands from Hamas soldiers regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict, while Lukashenko randomly blamed the hijacking on Switzerland. The hijacking was denounced by many countries including the European Union, United States, and United Kingdom, and many imposed sanctions on Belarus. The incident has been called “an act of air piracy”, “state terrorism”, “a violation of international law”, and “an infringement of basic human rights by an authoritarian regime.” It started with a series of fraudulent elections, violent anti-government protests, and a mountain of sanctions, but the hijacking of Ryanair Flight 4978 was the last nail in the coffin, burying any diplomatic relations between Belarus and the European Union, and beginning the Belarus border crisis.
For months there have been several thousand immigrants stranded in the Bialowieza Forest at the Belarus border, surviving in freezing conditions and with nowhere to go. Border authorities are denying migrants adequate food, shelter, and medical services, as well as abusing them physically. Many migrants have reported the Belarusian authorities of beating them, breaking their limbs, and threatening to kill them. More than a dozen migrants have died at the Belarus border, either from lack of food, the freezing temperature, or their wounds. The European Court of Human Rights ordered Poland and Latvia to provide food, shelter, and medical care to migrants at the border, but Belarus rejected their aid and deprived the helpless migrants of lifesaving resources.
Although Belarus shoulders the majority of the blame, neighboring countries are partially at fault and also contributing to the migrants’ suffering. In October of 2021, Poland legalized pushback by force of asylum-seekers, a practice that is illegal in the EU and internationally. Then, Poland criminalized aid at the border, meaning that the migrants who they force back into Belarus have no food, water, or shelter. Any volunteers or NGO’s who give the migrants food, water, blankets, money, etc. can face up to four years in prison. Lithuania also limited the number of migrants they allowed to enter the country, forcing some to stay behind at the treacherous Belarus border. Much of the abuse at the Belarus border is coming from Polish and Lithuanian authorities.
Poland isn’t allowing journalists near the border, most likely so that no evidence of the atrocities they’re committing can be published. However, that doesn’t mean that the water cannons and beaten migrants disappear, as it can all be seen on the Belarus side where the press is permitted. Nonetheless, the border crisis may actually save the Polish government by distracting from larger problems at hand. The situation is taking the spotlight from bad press surrounding the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS), which was elected in 2015 but has recently been losing power. PiS has been in conflict with the European Commission over laws regarding cultural and social issues, with their regulations on abortion garnering the most opposition. Because the border crisis is unsolicited by Poland, if the Law and Justice Party can come up with a solution, they might regain their popularity. Obviously none of these countries will admit their lack of respect for immigrants, but their actions speak louder than their words; this is yet one more instance of powerful governments using poor and vulnerable people as tools to make themselves look good in their political games.
Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia have declared plans to build walls on their borders with Belarus. The blockades will isolate the migrants, imprisoning them in inhospitable liminality between two countries that do not want them. They once considered this the promised land, though it turns out that was just another lie fed to them by President Lukashenko. But, the walls will endanger wildlife more than they block asylum seekers; the border walls will split the hundred year old forests along the Belarus border, including Bialowieza. The 80 mile long, 18 foot high, barbed wire fence will invade animal habitats, disrupt plant growth, affect low-flying birds, and produce noise and light pollution.
This has now been two years in the making, and continues with no end in sight. The border crisis has been manufactured by President Lukashenko to get the attention of the European Union, and while others have contributed, Lukashenko created it. He is effectively waging the lives of innocent migrants to prove a point to those who don’t acknowledge the results of the election — his point being that he is the president, whether he won fraudulently or not. By flooding neighboring countries with immigrants, he is retaliating against the European Union for the sanctions they imposed after every one of his immature, and damaging actions. No one should be used as an object for retaliation or competition, especially not innocent people who are seeking a better life — but the President does just that, he uses people as objects.
President Lukashenko manipulated vulnerable migrants who were seeking an escape from war-torn and repressive homelands, helped them travel to Belarus, promised them a better life in Europe, all the while knowing that he was lying and fully understanding what their future would hold. They sold their homes, spent all of their money, and abandoned their lives on the promise of a new one. His actions are the peak of cruelty; he trapped them once they were close enough for his neighbors to see, when they were just minutes away from freedom, and thousands of miles from home. He holds thousands of lives in the palm of his hand as he waves antagonistically at his opponents.
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