Polish authorities have found the body of a Yemeni man in marshland near the border with Belarus. The latest death in the area is a reminder that the crisis which began last summer has diminished but not ended, with Polish border guards recording 69 attempts to illegally enter Poland last weekend.
The police launched a search after receiving notification that footprints were seen in secluded wetlands in Białowieża Forest, and information about the whereabouts of the body was reported by a Polish journalist, Piotr Czaban of TVN.
Czaban tweeted on Monday that a migrant had died near the border with Belarus, noting that it was “most likely” a 26-year-old Yemeni man called Ahmed. “Remember that the crisis on the border is still going on,” he wrote. “Some residents have for weeks been saving those they manage to reach.”
https://t.co/dFNMwUOSMu
-Po tym co się stało dzisiaj – po znalezieniu kolejnego człowieka, który umarł przez bezduszność naszej władzy i służb – nie mogę dłużej milczeć – stwierdziła moja rozmówczyni i poprosiła o publikację tego wywiadu.
Od miesięcy ratuje ludzi przed śmiercią. pic.twitter.com/qN9rwpje1G— Piotr Czaban (@CzabanPiotr) February 22, 2022
The journalist reported that the man had been travelling with a group of Syrians and died “a week ago”, according to interviews with the migrants, who had recorded the location where he drowned. According to Czaban, the group were then detained by Poland’s border guard and pushed back to Belarus.
Around 5 p.m. yesterday, police officers found a body and an ID that confirmed the deceased as a 26-year-old citizen of Yemen. Accessing the spot, which is near the village of Topiło, required help from the fire service and foresters, said local police spokesman Tomasz Krupa, reports TOK FM.
According to Gazeta Wyborcza, it is the 14th body to have been found to date in the area near the Polish-Belarus border since the migration surge started last summer. Most of the victims have been Syrians and Iraqis.
Last weekend, Poland’s border guard recorded 69 attempts to enter the country illegally and said that they had been assisted by Belarusian soldiers. Since the beginning of the year, a total of 1,300 cases have been recorded.
That marks a significant decline from last year, when Poland saw 17,500 attempted crossings in October alone at the peak of the crisis. Over 2021 as a whole, Poland recorded a total of 39,700 attempts.
However, colder winter weather, diplomatic efforts to repatriate migrants and stop flights from the Middle East to Belarus, as well as tougher border measures by Poland have seen numbers decline.
Since the beginning of the crisis last year, Poland has described the crossings – which are orchestrated by the Belarusian regime – as part of a “hybrid” attack on the European Union with Russian backing.
On a visit to Warsaw last week, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin condemned Belarus for “continuing to cruelly promote the forced migration of thousands of displaced persons from the Middle East to Poland and the rest of the European Union”.
Poland has also received support for its efforts to prevent crossings from a number of other allies, including Germany, the European Council, and NATO.
However, Poland has been accused by domestic and international human rights groups of violating the rights of migrants and refugees, in particular by pushing them back across the border after they cross.
Main image credit: Agnieszka Sadowska / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
Agnieszka Wądołowska is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She has previously worked for Gazeta.pl and Tokfm.pl and contributed to Gazeta Wyborcza, Wysokie Obcasy, Duży Format, Midrasz and Kultura Liberalna
