It’s deep winter. Snow is falling. We are in complete holiday mood. Drinking hot chocolate and sitting in our warm home surrounded by our families and friends. What might be normality for us, is sadly not the reality for children enduring at the Belarus Poland border.
What is the problem? After 2020 elections where Belarus dictator Lukashenko won the presidency again, mass protests started in the country leading to governmental security forces breaking them down injuring, killing, and imprisoning hundreds of protestants. The west answered with sanctions against the government. Western leaders have accused Belarus, also called the last dictatorship of Europe, to have manipulated the elections and heavily abusing human rights. Further, they of blame them for manufacturing a migrant crisis on the European Union's eastern border as revenge for sanctions over human rights violations. Western authorities claim Belarus to pay human traffickers and using commercial flights to bring the immigrants to the boarder. The refugees come from Iraq, Syria, and other economically struggling countries, running away from war, poverty, and persecution, which Belarus is completely using for his advantage. Belarus doesn’t let the refugees back in, Poland does not let them enter the country leading to people being stuck in between the countries.
Refugees are making fires since it is the only way to keep them warm, although it is dangerous for their health. Smoke is everywhere, people cannot breathe and are coughing the entire time. Only a very few lucky ones have tents, the rest sleeps in the cold. Children get lost, separated from their parents. Beginning of December, a 4-year-old girl from Iraq was separated from their parents by Polish boarder guards and is still lost in the ice-cold forest. Shockingly, but not surprisingly she is not the only one. At least one child is confirmed dead due to hypothermia and hunger. In case you are asking what you can do to change this horrific situation: There are several petitions going on you can sign, to put pressure on the European Union to help the refugees and save them from their soon death if nothing is changing. Put your voice out there by signing those petitions, so the sanctions against Belarus are staying or are getting even stricter.
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