With thousands of migrants attempting to cross Poland’s border from Belarus in increasingly difficult conditions, a volunteer group of 40 Polish medical personnel has begun responding to calls to provide help to those in need.
Medics on the Border (Medycy na granicy), made up of doctors, nurses and paramedics, have been denied permission to enter the border area itself, which is under a state of emergency that bans non-resident civilians from entering. But they have stationed themselves nearby after receiving reports of a worsening situation.
As autumn weather has set in, the border crossers – who come mainly from the Middle East, Asia and Africa and whose passage is facilitated by the Belarusian authorities – are facing greater risks. At least five have been found dead on Polish territory.
"Belarus and Poland police push us back," says a Yazidi woman in a video shared by @murad_ismael.
"We are captives. One person died here today. Kids are crying for food. We are suffering, please help us" pic.twitter.com/bzVq72g3B9
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 10, 2021
With temperatures dipping below freezing overnight in recent days, there are concerns that more people may have since died. A significant proportion of the migrants – 20-30% according to one Polish newspaper – are children.
The medics, who are using a borrowed ambulance, work shifts in three-person teams, responding to calls from aid organisations operating in the region.
Last month, the group applied for permission to enter the area covered by the state of emergency, stressing that they are apolitical but felt compelled to help people in need, reports Interia. The interior ministry rejected their request, arguing that border guards are able to provide first aid and call emergency services when necessary.
As such, Medics on the Border only treat those who have made it beyond the border zone that is under the state of emergency, the group’s coordinator, Jakub Sieczko, told journalists. “We are always ready to talk to the ministry,” he added.
The group have also contacted Archbishop Wojciech Polak, the primate of Poland, to request mediation with the government. The Catholic church has appealed for the migrants to be treated humanely.
An online collection to support the medics’ work has so far raised around 300,000 zloty (€65,000), more than twice the initial target. The money is needed, among other things, to buy medication and equipment, pay for accommodation and transport, and cover communications and translation costs.
The medics began working last Thursday and intend to stay until at least 15 November. On the first night, they responded to a call about a group of a dozen or so people who needed help after spending two weeks in a nearby forest.
Among those they found there were children aged two and four who were “hungry and frightened” but did not require “professional medical assessment”, as well as a 14-year-old and a 20-year-old man suffering from a chronic illness, reports Gazeta.pl.
“We saw with our own eyes what the media are informing about,” Sieczko said, quoted by Interia. “People are living in the forests for many days, they are hungry, dehydrated, and cold.”
“It was the best proof that we are needed here. We are helping people who do not have appropriate medical care and access to medication,” he added.
On Sunday morning, activists called the group for help after finding three people from Syria in the forest near the border. A 50-year-old woman and a 25-year-old man were in a serious condition with hypothermia and dehydration. The medics found that a two-year-old girl who was with them was healthy, reports TVN24.
The activists who found that group near the village of Szymki called the emergency services, but were told that the border guard and police would be dispatched rather than an ambulance, said Karol Wilczyński of the Granica (Border) group.
“We therefore decided to call the doctors from Medics on the Border, Wilczyński told TVN24. “They arrived after 40 minutes.” The two adults were taken to a local hospital, where their condition has improved but they still require further treatment.
Main image credit: Medycynagranicy/Facebook
Ben Koschalka is a translator and senior editor at Notes from Poland. Originally from Britain, he has lived in Kraków since 2005.
