DISINFO: Belarus is the only party assisting the migrants at the Polish border

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

AI translations:

DISINFO: Belarus is the only party assisting the migrants at the Polish border

SUMMARY

The migrants stranded at the Belarus-Poland border are in dire need of food, shelter, and medical treatment. So far, only Belarus has provided assistance to the migrants.

RESPONSE

This false claim advances an emerging pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative regarding the migration crisis on the EU-Belarus border.

On 11 November, officials representing the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) began providing emergency aid to a group of some 2,000 migrants and refugees residing at a makeshift camp on the Belarusian side.

Moreover, in early October 2021, Russia's own RIA Novosti agency already reported that the Polish government had sent a humanitarian aid convoy to Belarus, but the latter refused to accept Warsaw's assistance arguing that the move "reeks of disdain for Belarusian sovereignty."

Lastly, see here, here, and here for an overview of how Polish volunteers and NGOs are helping the migrants trapped at the Belarus-Poland border (in Polish).

Belarus authorities including security forces are keeping irregular migrants in harsh conditions in open air or rudimentary makeshift conditions to create TV pictures exposing human suffering. Belarus have provided tourist visas to the migrants and have all the possibilities to offer appropriate and safe accomodation instead of pushing people against a border. Belarus can also offer asylum to the people having left their country of origin.

The EU decided on 15 November to broaden the scope for sanctions to tackle the hybrid attacks and Belarus' instrumentalisation of migrants.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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