Germany does not accept Belarus' proposal to host 2,000 migrants
The Government of Germany has clearly shown its refusal to take over the 2,000 migrants who are currently in a reception center in Belarus near the border with Poland, next to the city of Grodno.
The effectiveness of the Polish forces in preventing this group of people from crossing the border has been appreciated.
However, for the Belarusian authorities this situation is beginning to become a problem, who are fearing that all these illegal people are barricading themselves indefinitely in the logistics warehouse that they have been enabled since last week.
This as a decision of the local government to save them from the cold due to the low temperatures that are occurring and due to the lack of food.
Likewise, the head of the Migration Department of the Ministry of the Interior of Belarus, Alexéi Begún, has acknowledged this Tuesday in a statement to the press "the people who are currently on the border of Poland and Belarus."
Refugee status has not been applied for
In this way, it has been learned that the 2,000 refugees in the reception center have not yet applied to the authorities in charge of their refugee status or subsidiary protection.
According to the words of Alexéi Begún, "what these migrants want insistently is to be able to go to the countries of the European Union, most of them have relatives in Germany."
"It is the most appropriate time, the representatives of UNHCR, the UN agency for Refugees, all of them are in Belarus holding talks right now with government agencies for the creation of joint measures that allow solving the migration crisis", added Begún.
According to the head of the Migration Department, all this consists of being able to return to their places of origin for those who request it or for those who do not wish to return, to be able to find a third country that wants to receive them.
Migrants do not want to stay in Belarus
If the Belarusian government is clear about one thing, it is that all these migrants do not want to stay in Belarus and in particular the 2,000 who are on the border.
Last week, President Alexander Lukashenko asked German Chancellor Angela Merkel to admit them through a humanitarian corridor to leave as soon as possible for Germany.
So much so that Lukashenko has proposed before speaking with Angela Market that several flights depart from Minsk to Munich.
However, Belarus has not received a positive response from Berlin. This is why the Belarusian authorities fear that all these people will end up being stagnant in their country, and a possible deportation could generate disorder and forced expulsions.
This is how Natalia Eismont, spokesperson for the Belarusian presidency, said last Thursday that there are currently around 7,000 migrants in the country from Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and Syria, of which 5,000 will be repatriated to their countries of origin.
Return of migrants
The first plane with migrants left Minsk bound for Iraq last Thursday with around 400 people and a second flight is scheduled to take place at the end of November.
Begún reported this Tuesday that 118 migrants left Belarus on Monday and expect many other people to do the same.
On the other hand, Ned Price, the spokesman for the US State Department, has drastically condemned the Lukashenko regime for promoting an inhumane form of irregular migration across its borders.
Likewise, Ned Price has advanced that a new round of sanctions is being prepared to counteract everything that the Belarusian authorities intend to do. "Put an immediate end to your campaign of orchestrating migration flows through coercion," Price commented.
According to his words, the goal is to hold Lukashenko accountable for all these actions, but also for all his attacks on human rights, democracy and international norms.