Belarus/EU: Authorities playing 'sordid game' with asylum-seekers and migrants - new evidence

Harrowing testimonies expose brutal violence from Belarusian and Polish forces against asylum-seekers and migrants

People including children have been beaten with batons, rifle butts, punched with knuckle dusters and threatened with security dogs by Belarusian forces

‘Some had iron finger boxing rings and steel tipped boots. They kicked us while we were lying on the ground. They made us hand over money and phones. My body was left black and blue’ - Kurdish Iraqi man

New evidence by Amnesty International reveals asylum-seekers and migrants trying to enter the EU from Belarus are subjected to horrific torture, inhumane conditions, extortion and other abuses at the hands of Belarusian forces at the Polish border.

Harrowing testimonies reveal that people including families with children, often in need of immediate help, have been beaten with batons and rifle butts and threatened with security dogs by Belarusian forces, as well as being forced to repeatedly cross the border in dangerous conditions by both Belarussian and Polish authorities, including through a fast-flowing river.

Amnesty interviewed a total of 75 people who were lured into Belarus between July and November 2021 by a false promise of easily crossing into the EU. They then experienced pushbacks by EU countries, including Poland.

The people interviewed included 66 Iraqi nationals, seven Syrian nationals who travelled from Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria, one Lebanese man, and one Sudanese man. With several of those interviewed travelling with family and friends, the testimonies account for a total of 192 affected people.

Belarus: Ill-treatment along the border  

Amnesty’s research revealed beatings and other serious torture or ill-treatment, including people being deprived of food, water, shelter, and sanitation, as well as theft of phones and money or extortion for bribes by members of Belarusian forces.

Those interviewed testified that they faced these abuses from Belarusian forces as they moved from Minsk to what is effectively an exclusion zone, typically fenced off, on Belarus’ border with Poland, Latvia and Lithuania. People were escorted in groups to “collection sites” within the fenced off zone before being violently forced to cross into Poland, whilst being chased by dogs and forced to walk through freezing rivers by Belarusian authorities.

A Syrian man told Amnesty that he was in a group of around 80 people driven in a military truck to the border. He said:

Once in a “collection site” people are not allowed to leave or go back towards unfenced areas accessible to civilians and are trapped in inhumane conditions for days or weeks. People described being left without any food for days, or with minimal amounts of water or bread, and no shelter or sanitation. Several individuals told Amnesty that they were only allowed to leave the “collection sites” and the border strip zone after paying bribes.

A Kurdish Syrian family interviewed stayed in the fenced zone for 20 days. They ate only once per day and, on one occasion, went at least 24 hours with nothing to feed their two children. The father described his family’s ordeal:

Belarusian officials also took advantage of people entering the fenced areas and beat them violently as they crossed in, often stealing phones and money from them during the process. One asylum-seeker even said he was punched with “knuckle dusters” and kicked with steel-toed boots. A Kurdish Iraqi man told Amnesty:

International human rights law protects the right to claim asylum, as well as the right to freedom from torture or other ill-treatment. Belarus is flagrantly violating these rights, despite being party to relevant international treaties that protect them.

Poland: Pushbacks as a standard practice, asylum procedures and human rights guarantees ignored 

Most of those who made it across the border fence into Poland were immediately apprehended and pushed back by Polish soldiers after a few hundred metres.

Amnesty also documented several cases of individuals who managed to go further into Polish territory, including walking for days before being picked up by Polish law enforcement authorities or approaching the authorities themselves after days spent without food or shelter. All but one person Amnesty spoke to was pushed back to Belarus, without any due process. Despite individuals expressing their intention to apply for asylum in the EU, they were stopped in a long series of systematic mass expulsions that completely disregarded international and EU law obligations.

Polish security forces clearly witnessed the mistreatment asylum seekers and migrants suffered on the Belarusian side, and yet still turned them back across the border fence.

Most of the people who Amnesty spoke to who had tried to cross the border more recently said their phones were frequently damaged by Polish forces, and at times people suffered violent treatment, including children being pepper sprayed and adults being pushed into rivers.

A Syrian man who travelled with his wife and two children told Amnesty that members of Polish forces put him and his family inside the back of a military truck. He said:

An Iraqi Yazidi man told Amnesty that about an hour after crossing into Poland he was apprehended by Polish forces and, along with several other men, taken to a small river marking the border with Belarus: He said:

Poland is in clear violation of international law and standards, including through violation of the prohibition of torture or other ill-treatment. The principle of non-refoulment provides that authorities must not forcibly send any person to another country or territory where they would be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

European Commission fails to act against abuses 

Despite egregious rights violations by the EU states bordering Belarus, the European Commission has failed to carry through legal proceedings to uphold EU laws.

On 1 December 2021 the European Commission proposed provisional emergency measures that could allow Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to derogate from EU rules, including by holding asylum-seekers at the border for 20 weeks with minimal safeguards and making deportations easier. The move is unjustifiable and will weaken the EU’s legal framework on migration and asylum.

Amnesty is concerned that those who remain trapped in Belarus with irregular status, whether in the border regions or the capital Minsk and other cities, are at risk of serious human rights violations. Confronted with an increasing number of stranded asylum seekers, Belarusian authorities have already started forcibly returning them to their countries of origin, including returning them unlawfully without an evaluation of their protection needs.

Many people Amnesty spoke to face forcible return to Syria and not the countries they departed from, including Egypt, Turkey and Lebanon, due to re-entry bans.

Amnesty’s research

Nine in-depth interviews were conducted with Syrian, Lebanese and Sudanese people who travelled, some accompanied by their families, from Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Russia with the intention of seeking asylum in the EU.

At the time of the interviews, these individuals were in Germany, Lebanon, and still in Belarus. Additionally, Amnesty travelled to Iraq where it was able to speak with 66 individuals who had been returned, both voluntarily and involuntarily, to their country after failed attempts to reach the EU. These interviews took place in and around Baghdad, Dohuk, Baadre, Khelakh, Shariya, Zakho and Raniya.

Amnesty requested access to the border zone and the people stranded there from Belarusian authorities. In their reply, the authorities stated: