On Europe’s eastern border, the death toll has been rising for three years. Since 2021, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has been pushing migrants towards the border to put pressure on his European Union neighbors. On Thursday, July 18, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish and Belarusian humanitarian associations published a report counting at least 116 deaths along this border between 2021 and March 2024.
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With our correspondent in Warsaw, Adrien Sarlat
A black and white map of the region. On either side of the border, scattered numbers. Each symbolizes one of the 116 victims who have died trying to cross Europe’s eastern borders in the last three years. It is with this chilling image that begins The report Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish and Belarusian NGOs.
The document explains how these thousands of migrants thatAlexander Lukashenko brought from Africa, the Middle East or Southeast Asia, end up dying in the forest. Many succumb to exhaustion or hypothermia. Humanitarians also denounce inadequate care provided by emergency services on the ground.
The report recommends that the Baltic states and Warsaw stop “pushbacks”, i.e. sending migrants back to the country where they crossed the border. However, these recommendations risk being ignored. As the influx of migrants has intensified in recent months, the Baltic states such as Poland have significantly strengthened their security measures. Since 2021, more than 150,000 migrants have been pushed back to Europe’s eastern border.
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