Poland says Belarus brought migrants back to border
Signs this week that the spiraling border and migrant crisis between the European Union and Belarus could finally be easing, may have been false.
The Polish government is now accusing Belarus of ferrying hundreds of migrants back to their shared border, and pushing them to cross illegally, less than a day after Belarus started clearing migrant camps at the border and sheltering them in warehouses instead.
The warehouses and cleared camps were thought to show a change of strategy from Belarus, coming the same day that the first repatriation flights for Iraqi migrants began flying them back to Iraq.
Instead, if Poland's accusations are confirmed, the situation may drag on. Poland is again claiming Belarus security forces tried to blind Polish troops with laser pointers as well. This footage released by Polish border guards on Wednesday is said to show the tactic.
Back in the warehouse, the migrants -- from war-torn and troubled countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria -- are stuck in limbo.
This man from Iraq is telling us that he can't go back to home. It's impossible. There are too many problems there, and that forcing him back just "isn't right."
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has repeatedly denied that he's orchestrating the crisis, but he acknowledged in a BBC interview that elements of his government may be helping migrants cross the border.
His response was, quote, "We're Slavs. We have hearts. Our troops know the migrants are going to Germany. Maybe someone helped them," and said he won't look into the matter.
