Migrants Test Belarus-EU Border Amid Talk of De-Escalation

(Bloomberg) -- Attempts by migrants to cross into Poland and Lithuania continued after Belarusian authorities moved thousands of them from frigid outdoor encampments to an improvised shelter.

About 2,000 migrants were moved to a warehouse near the Kuznica border crossing with Poland, where Belarusian soldiers and volunteers provided them with eight tons of food and hot tea daily, the Belta news agency said in a photo report Friday. 

After the predominately Middle Eastern migrants deserted their makeshift camp near the frontier, Poland registered 255 attempts to cross from Belarus over the past 24 hours, including failed breakthroughs by an “aggressive” group of 500 and another surge by 50 people. Lithuanian border guards said there were 106 attempts to cross on Thursday, showing no major decline from previous days.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko appeared to seek to de-escalate the crisis after phone calls with outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel this week. On Friday, he discussed steps he said he has taken to ease the standoff with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

It is too early to speak about de-escalation, as so far there have been only minor positive steps by the Belarusian authorities, including a flight back to Iraq and the reported movement of 2,000 people to a warehouse, according to a European Union official who declined to be identified in line with policy.

The EU was still waiting on Friday to hear from Belarusian authorities that UN agencies had been granted permanent and unhindered access to the border area, the official said. The bloc is focusing on efforts to supply humanitarian aid to those who are stranded close to the border, to get them shelter, and to favor repatriation efforts for those who agree to be taken back.

Humanitarian Disaster

The conflict, which has been brewing since Belarusian forces started ushering migrants to its borders with the European Union amid increasingly strained relations with Brussels, threatened create a humanitarian disaster as the EU sought to prevent a new wave of migration. Polish forces have used water cannon and tear gas to protect the border.  

Merkel held phone calls with the heads of the UN Refugee Agency and International Organization for Migration about the humanitarian crisis on the border, chief government spokesman Steffen Seibert said Friday. 

Belarus has been hit with escalating sanctions by the EU, U.S. and the U.K. since last year’s disputed presidential elections and a subsequent crackdown on the opposition. Lukashenko has responded to the measures with aggressive rhetoric, including a threat to stop gas transit from Russia as Europe faces an energy crunch just as the winter heating season begins. 

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