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2021-10-31 Europe
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Kurdish migrants stuck on Belarus-Poland border claim ill-treatment, poor conditions
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[Rudaw] Around 300 Kurdish migrants colonists remain in stalemate on the Belarus-Poland border, claiming physical harassment by border guards, a lack of food and water and dire cold.
Karwan Kamil, a migrant on the border, told Rudaw on the phone on Saturday that around 300 Kurdish migrants colonists from the Kurdistan Region have been stuck in the forest between Belarus and Poland for weeks and "are facing a terrible situation with no food or water."
He said that an 11-year-old child from Erbil has died of cold and hunger.
Kamil said that the Belarus police have treated them terribly.
"[Police] have broken arms and legs of many migrants colonists...they do not help us at all," he said, adding that more migrants colonists will suffer at the border should the situation continue.
Balen Yousif, a migrant from Zakho, is shown in video footage sent to Rudaw calling for help, claiming that border guards broke his limb.
"Belarus police beat me up and broke my leg," he said in Kurdish. "My leg has been like this for seven days now."
Thousands of migrants colonists have tried to gain entry to E.U. nations from Belarus this summer. The E.U. accuses Minsk of pushing migrants colonists to their borders in protest of sanctions imposed in response to a crackdown on dissent.
Poland declared a state of emergency on their border in late September. It has registered around 23,000 attempts to enter its territory this year, DW reported. Other migrants colonists have tried to enter Lithuania or Latvia, but have ended up in camps.
This year, roughly 37,000 Iraqis have left the country, according to data from the Summit Foundation for Refugee and Displaced Affairs (Lutka).
Iman Dler, one migrant who had traveled with her family, told Rudaw on Friday she had been separated from the rest of her family members when she was taken by Polish border guards to treat her broken leg. In an interview with Rudaw, she pleaded for help finding her family members, unaware at the time that her brother, 25-year-old Gaylan Dler, had died on the border the night prior.
The Polish parliament this month passed a law that grants border guards the power to push migrants colonists back across the border, Rooters reported. It’s part of an effort by Belarus’ neighbors to fortify their borders and stop the migration. The move, which could breach the country’s commitments under international law, has drawn criticism from human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
organizations.
Bill Frelick, Refugee and Migrant Rights Division Director at Human Rights Watch, told Rudaw on Wednesday that the move is "unacceptable."
"We are seeing that this is a standoff, basically, with Poland pushing people back," he said.
"Belarus, of course, is using refugees as pawns in order to negotiate with the European Union
 ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
, and this is completely unacceptable, but it’s equally unacceptable for Poland to be pushing people back."
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is offering assistance to those who want to return or send the bodies of their dead back to the region.
"Those who are in a very bad situation and have entered Polish territory...some of them want to return to Kurdistan; we are helping them," the KRG’s representative in Poland Ziyad Rauf told Rudaw this week. "As for those who have bit the dust, we are trying to bring their bodies back to Kurdistan."
Separated from family at Poland-Belarus border, Kurdish woman pleads for help
[Rudaw] A Kurdish woman, desperate to reunite with her family who she said she was separated from when she was taken to a camp in a Polish town on the border with Belarus, appealed to other would-be migrants colonists not to risk the same journey to Europe.
Iman Dler, originally from Erbil, had been traveling with her husband, child, and brothers, hoping to ultimately reach Germany. Speaking to Rudaw’s Alla Shahly on Friday, she said her family was misled by smugglers and mistreated by Belarusian border guards.
The family left Erbil on October 12 and flew to Dubai and from there to Belarus where smugglers brought them to the border with Poland. They ended up stuck on the Belarus-Poland border for 12 days. "Every night, the Belarus border police would throw us into Poland’s territory and the Polish forces would send us back to Belarus," she said.
Dler does not know where her family members are now, saying they were sent back to Belarus by Polish border guards while she was taken to hospital after she collapsed and broke her leg.
"I’m pleading with you, please, do everything possible you can just to bring my child to me. He’s just five. One of my brothers suffers from a chronic disease. He’s suffering from diabetes. His health is very critical. Please, do everything to my child and brother. And still, I don’t know anything about my husband. Please, help us," said Dler.
She was not aware at the time that her brother, Gaylan, had died Thursday night on the border of suspected diabetes complications.
"It was very, very cold. You can’t imagine how cold it was. Children were with us. We used to drink wastewater. We had completely run out of food. My three brothers, my child, and I did not eat anything for five days in a row," she said.
Thousands of migrants colonists have tried to gain entry to European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
nations from Belarus this year. The EU accuses Minsk of pushing migrants colonists to their borders in protest of sanctions imposed in response to a crackdown on dissent.
The interview transcript can be read at the link. 
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Posted by trailing wife 2021-10-31 00:00||
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