DISINFO: Warsaw must call Minsk if it wants to solve the current migration crisis
SUMMARY
The Polish side keeps saying that the migration crisis is the so-called hybrid war. But what does “hybrid” mean? The textbooks on security issues describe the hybrid war as a combination of military actions with some unconventional, economic, information actions.
There is only one way to solve the problem of the refugees: Warsaw needs to call Minsk. The only question here is whether anyone in Warsaw still knows a phone number to call Minsk. Maybe, someone in Warsaw will mistakenly call Vilnius or Mrs Tsikhanouskaya, who is recognised by some persons as the Belarusian President.
RESPONSE
Recurring disinformation narrative about the ongoing migration crisis on the Eastern border of the European Union directly caused by the Belarusian authorities.
On 2 September 2021, Poland declared a state of emergency in two regions bordering Belarus – this step is implemented in order to face the ongoing “migration crisis” orchestrated by Belarusian authorities. In August 2021, about 3500 irregular migrants attempted to enter the territory of Poland from Belarus. The current “migration crisis” is often described as a “hybrid war” tool used against the EU by Lukashenka and, possibly, Putin.
According to the position of the Polish authorities, the ongoing situation on the Belarusian border is a hybrid attack on Poland in order to destabilise the country and the entire EU. Currently, in late August 2021, the Belarusian border forces are not allowing several dozen migrants stuck at the Polish-Belarusian border to return to the country despite the fact that they have Belarusian visas (officially, they arrived in Belarus as tourists). In addition, the Belarusian authorities refused to accept Polish humanitarian aid for the people stuck at the border.
There is numerous evidence that the Belarusian authorities have instigated the ongoing migration crisis in Lithuania, Poland and Latvia. Lukashenka’s regime is using migrants from the Middle East as “political and hybrid” tools against Lithuania and the entire EU. Commissioner Ylva Johansson said, inter alia: “The authoritarian regime in Belarus is exploiting human beings for political reasons: this is completely unacceptable.”
In 2021, Lithuania, Poland and Latvia faced an influx of irregular migrants from Belarus. Earlier, Belarus ended cooperation with the EU to stem illegal migration. This was Minsk’s answer to the European Union sanctions on the political regime of Belarus (read more about sanctions here).
Several investigative journalists (here) and (here) have proven that some migrants arrive in Belarus by commercial flights from Baghdad to Minsk. Information gathered also suggests that migrants are regularly transported by bus to the Belarusian-Lithuanian border. More information about Lukashenka’s role in the organisation of the current migration crisis can be found here and here.
See other disinformation cases concerning the ongoing migration crisis on the Belarusian border: Lithuanian border guards use violence against migrants, including abandoning pregnant women; Migrants in Lithuania are kept in concentration camps in unsanitary conditions and Polish Defense Minister tries to exert psychological and propaganda influence on the Poles.