On Sunday 19 September, four people were found dead at the border between Poland and Belarus, the latest development in a diplomatic stand-off that has lasted more than a month.
In August, a group of thirty refugees from Afghanistan and Iraq became trapped at the border when Polish armed forces prevented them crossing into the country from Belarus. Although the UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency, and Poland’s human rights commissioner have called on the Polish government to let asylum seekers enter its territory, the country has so far refused, arguing that they are the responsibility of Belarus. The Belarusian authorities, for their part, have refused to let the refugees re-enter its territory.
Polish NGOs like Fundacja Ocalenie and Fundacja Polska Gościnność, in addition to volunteers, lawyers, and politicians, have been trying to provide the trapped migrants with food, water, medical care, and legal support despite the obstacles created by border guards.
