UN migrants rapporteur condemns rights violations at Belarus-Polish border

June 16, BPN. Felipe González Morales, the UN special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, has strongly condemned “the use of migrants as a political tool in violation of their human rights.”

In a report drawn up following his visit to Belarus in July 2022, he said he was concerned about the physical and mental wellbeing of migrants stranded at the Belarusian-Polish border.

He said the situation at the border reflects the ongoing geopolitical crisis.

Pushbacks “have cost migrants’ lives,” while Poland’s fence has not deterred irregular border crossings, he said. Instead, it has “heightened the risks to migrants and increased their suffering.”

He called for a constructive dialogue between Belarus and Europe. Migrants’ human rights should be at the center of any resulting solution, he added.

“Belarus should work closely with international organizations including the United Nations to enhance the protection of the human rights of migrants and asylum-seekers,” González Morales said.

The migration crisis at the Belarusian-EU border dates back to the spring of 2021. It escalated on November 8, 2021, when thousands of travelers set up a camp near the Polish border. The Baltic states and Poland accused Belarusian authorities of creating the trouble, while the latter blamed it on the West.

Migration figures had dropped significantly by the time Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but have risen more recently.