Politics

Polish NGOs provide aid to migrants trapped at Belarus border

Michalowo/Kuznica, Poland, Nov 17 (EFE).- Volunteers from Polish NGOs and the Red Cross on Wednesday brought humanitarian aid to some 2,000 migrants trapped at the border between Poland and Belarus.

In hopes of crossing into the EU, the migrants are enduring freezing weather conditions, as temperatures are dropping as low as 2 degrees Celsius and the thick fog in the forest makes it hard for volunteers to reach the border.

Local residents of neighbouring towns are also offering help to the migrants.

“Since the beginning of this crisis, over three months, our people have been helping because that’s how we are,” Konrad Sikora, deputy mayor of Michalowo, told Efe.

A ‘logistics center’ has been set up in Michalowo for volunteers to pick up humanitarian aid, warm meals, medicine and clothes, and take it to the migrants.

Donations are coming from all over Poland, human rights activist Purtas Pur said.

According to Pur, the local population is not scared of the migrants but rather of the Polish guards that have been deployed to enforce the border.

Violence at the border erupted on Wednesday with migrants throwing stones at Polish guards who repelled them with tear gas and water cannons.

Polish guards say Belarusian authorities escorted the migrants to the border, encouraging them to cross into the EU.

Latvian authorities on Wednesday presented to the press the temporary fence they are building at the border with Belarus to prevent migrants from entering the European Union irregularly.

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