Berlin/Osnabrück, June 7, 2024 - The situation on the Polish-Belarusian border is currently escalating: With regard to the upcoming European elections, terre des hommes demands that the EU and its member states urgently fulfill their responsibility for human and children's rights.
The children's rights organization terre des hommes criticizes the Polish government's announced plan to establish a restricted zone on the border with Belarus. A new restricted zone would further worsen the humanitarian situation at the border, as it would prevent human rights activists, journalists, and humanitarian aid workers from accessing the areas where children and families seeking protection are located.
“We currently know of at least 36 unaccompanied children stuck at the border,” says Maria Ksiazak of the International Humanitarian Initiative Foundation. “I was able to speak with them and I know their fears and hardships. But next week, a regulation threatens to block access by another 200 meters, thus preventing any direct contact.”
“There is a 5.5-meter-high fence, the top of which has been newly covered with razor-sharp accordion-style wire. Behind the fence, you can see children waiting there, sitting on EU territory. You can also see a gate in the fence, which is used for illegal pushbacks to the Belarusian side. We are working to ensure that this gate to Europe is opened for the children,” Ksiazak continued.
“Both the Polish government and the EU and its member states must protect people seeking refuge in Europe. Every child has the right to a life of dignity. That is why terre des hommes is committed to ensuring that the safety and protection of children is paramount – regardless of their origin. Because every child counts!” said Annika Schlingheider, political advisor for the children’s rights organization terre des hommes Germany.
<hr />Additional background:
- In a joint statement dated May 29, 2024, several Polish aid organizations reported an escalation of violence by border guards and the Polish army against children and adults attempting to cross the Polish-Belarusian border. The descriptions of Polish border violence in the statement are reminiscent of scenes from Agnieszka Holland's recent film "Green Border": the use of tear gas, beatings, stripping, kicking, throwing to the ground, handcuffing, destruction of phones and documents, and confiscation of backpacks containing food and clean water. According to the organizations, people report being forced through threats or physical violence to sign false declarations and then being taken behind a fence. On the Belarusian side, people are being exploited, held in the forest, robbed, extorted, beaten, electrocuted, chased with dogs, and raped.
- Further information on the situation at the Polish-Belarusian and other EU external borders can be found in the report by terre des hommes "Before walls and behind bars - How children and young people are unlawfully pushed back and imprisoned at the EU's external borders" (2023).