Border Crisis in Belarus

BORDER CRISIS

Some call it a humanitarian crisis; others say its a security threat. Appeals for asylum grow – as does the fear of deportation.

Familiar storylines on the seams of two nations.

Europe's latest border crisis.

What Is Going On:

"Hybrid War"

Belarus – a long-time Russian ally – has facilitated people gathering at the border it shares with Poland, accusing Poland of violating international standards by not allowing these individuals to appeal for asylum.

Poland – a member of NATO (an international defense alliance) as well as the European Union – accuses Belarus of creating a humanitarian crisis that amounts to a national security threat.

“I would rather die here in the cold than go back to Iraq.”

32-year-old Rekar Hamid, an Iraqi Kurd, who traveled with his wife and two-year-old son to the border of Belarus/Poland (or what’s described as “the edge of the E.U.” in The New York Times). Like thousands of others, he’s stuck in worsening, freezing, squalid conditions, as neither country wants to take in those in similar situations to Hamid.

Important Context:

The Economist reports the crisis at the border as a “concoction” of the Belarusian government – alleging the government has essentially recruited people from Iraq for a fee, flown them on the government’s state-owned airlines, and led them to the border – in an attempt to create a divisive crisis within the European Union. Instead, it looks like the E.U. remains united in sanctioning Belarus.