To: Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Zbigniew Rau

30. November 2021

Dear Mr. Rau, 

The Solidarity and Social Justice Committee of the Teaching Support Staff Union at Simon Fraser University writes to you to express unequivocal solidarity with the migrants and refugees stranded at the Poland-Belarus border. The Teaching and Support Staff Union represents over 3000 individual members. 

Since August 2021, there has been a sharp increase of migration from Belarus to Poland, including migrants from Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia and Iraq. Migrants and refugees who make it across the Belarusian border but not across the Polish border are stranded without adequate shelter and food, clean water, sanitation facilities or medical care and experience violence by border guards. Due to these inhumane conditions, at least 11 migrants have died. The families and individuals migrating face human rights violations. Belarusian soldiers have been forcing migrants and refugees over the border and Polish soldiers have been pushing them back. We condemn these actions which are inhumane and illegal under international human rights law and refugee law. 

In September 2021 the Polish government declared a state of emergency in 183 localities surrounding the Poland-Belarus border. This declaration prevents journalists and NGOs from entering these areas, hiding the government’s unlawful and inhumane actions from the public eye. This state of emergency additionally prevents medical aid from entering the areas, leaving migrants and refugees in a precarious and dangerous position. Medical aid is crucial given the lack of access to adequate shelter, food, water, and sanitation facilities, and should be a top priority, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the onset of winter weather and freezing temperatures, conditions have become increasingly dangerous and inhumane. Individuals and organizations who have offered aid to migrants have been faced with threats of legal repercussions and violence at the hands of Polish police.

Thus, we demand that both Poland and Belarus cease forcing migrants out and communicate with each other to de-escalate the situation and provide immediate support in the form of food, water, clothing, shelter, and medical care for anyone seeking asylum (as decided by EHCR), which is a human right under international human rights law. This would require an end to the state of emergency and granting access to humanitarian aid and journalists without threats of legal repercussions as demanded by UNHCR, Polish Mother Rallye, Amnesty, and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). We also support the UN Special Rapporteurs’ request that both Poland and Belarus investigate the “deaths at the border, including the cause of death of each victim, and make the results public” and demand that all countries involved condemn and prevent further violence toward migrants by border guards and hold these guards accountable. We support the reminder to those countries that have declared a state of emergency that this is neither an excuse nora  reason to withhold humanitarian aid from migrants (“the right to life and freedom from torture, refoulement and collective expulsions are non-derogable rights. This means they can never be suspended, not even in a state of emergency”). We echo Michelle Bachalet’s, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, statement that “the human rights of these individuals are the paramount concern” and view the deliberate and inhumane treatment of these migrants and a violation of international law and humanitarian priority. 

Our demands are in solidarity with efforts by Polish individuals and organizations to provide support for migrants and refugees. Polish Lawyer Kamil Syller introduced an initiative asking locals living near the Poland-Belarus border to mark their house with a green light if they can provide migrants with food and shelter. Grupa Granica, a Polish non-governmental organization, is supporting migrants and refugees who manage to cross the border, outside of the exclusion zone set up by the government. Medicy na granicy provided medical care, but were forced to stop because of security threats. They were replaced by the Polish Medical Mission team. These groups have risked their own safety by taking on critical humanitarian work that is supposed to be the government’s responsibility.  

Sincerely,

The Solidarity and Social Justice Committee of the Teaching and Support Staff Union

Simon Fraser University, Burnaby Campus

ssjc@tssu.ca

References

Amnesty International. (2021, October 20th). Poland: 17 Afghans at the border violently pushed back to Belarus. 
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/10/poland-17-afghans-at-the-border-violently-pushed-back-to-belarus/

Cincurova, S. (2021, November 22). The devastating ways women suffer at the Poland-Belarus border. AlJazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/22/refugees-crossing-polish-border-recite-tales-of-horror 

Deutsche Welle. (2021, October 23). Polish mothers rally in solidarity with migrants at Belarus border. https://p.dw.com/p/426ik

European Court of Human Rights. (2021, August 28). Court indicates interim measures in respect of Iraqi and Afghan nationals at Belarusian border with Latvia and Poland. https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng-press#%7B%22itemid%22:[%22003-7100942-9612632%22]%7D

Henley, J. (2021, October 31). ‘People treated like weapons’: more deaths feared at Poland-Belarus border. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/31/poland-belarus-border-migrants-deaths

Morris, L & Dixon, R. (2021, November 8). ‘They will not come in’: Mounting standoff over migrants on Poland-Belarus border. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/belarus-poland-migrants-border/2021/11/08/dd35948a-4072-11ec-9404-50a28a88b9cd_story.html

Plucinska, J. (2021, November 15). Locals helping migrants on Poland-Belarus border fear backlash. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/locals-helping-migrants-poland-belarus-border-fear-backlash-2021-11-15/

UNHCR. (2021, September 21). UNHCR and IOM shocked and dismayed by deaths near Belarus-Poland border. https://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2021/9/6149dec74/unhcr-iom-shocked-dismayed-deaths-near-belarus-poland-border.html 

United Nations Human Rights: Office of the High Commissioner. (2021, October 6). Belarus and Poland: Stop sacrificing migrant lives to political dispute ̶ UN Special Rapporteurs. https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=27615&LangID=E

United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner. (2021, November 10). Comment by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on the Belarus-Poland border situation. https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=27791&LangID=E