claims that Polish soldiers had used “disproportionate tactics,” such water cannons
Felipez González Morales, the UN’s rapporteur on the rights of migrants, condemned this Thursday’s deaths of 20 migrants in a forest close to the Belarus-Poland border as part of the migratory crisis that started in 2021.
According to the official information gathered by the governments of both nations, four persons perished on Belarusian soil, while ten more did so on the Polish side.
Although he has stated that “proof has not been received that points to Russia’s role in the migration crisis erupted in the area towards the end of 2021,” González believes that these numbers “do not match to reality.” I haven’t heard anything about it during my visit, he insisted.
However, he has denounced the use of “disproportionate tactics” by Polish security forces, who have stopped migrant movement with water cannons.
APPLICATION OF “DISPROPORTIONATE” MEASURES
In this sense, he has suggested that Poland has used these cannons since mid-2021, both “against Belarusian territory” and within the context of the migratory issue. González notes that as a result, numerous people—including some journalists—have been hurt.
“When deploying these kinds of instruments against immigrants and asylum seekers, the Border Guard must exercise extreme caution. To address the problem they face, it is a wholly disproportionate measure, “He stated before emphasizing the value of defending human rights.
According to the Belarusian news agency BelTA, he has stressed that a fence along the border with Belarus “is not going to hold migrants” instead it “would intensify the circumstances in which they find themselves.”
I worry that building the fence would increase the risk that migrants confront rather than deter people from trying to cross, the man continued. She urged the two nations to engage in constructive engagement with the EU to find a solution, particularly to prevent victims and ensure the preservation of immigrant rights.
In November 2021, the situation at the border got worse as thousands of migrants, especially from Iraq and other Middle Eastern nations, gathered there in an attempt to enter EU territory.
In response for sanctions put in place against Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland accused Minsk of engineering a migration crisis in an effort to destabilize the EU. Additionally, the Polish government imposed a state of emergency in the Belarusian borderlands and expanded the number of military and law enforcement officers stationed there.
In exchange, Belarusian border guards have charged Poland with conducting frenzied returns to Belarusian soil. Poland has tallied more than 4,000 unlawful crossing attempts from Belarus so far in 2022.