EU blame game between Poland and Belarus cannot cover up failed asylum policy

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The current border escalations are not the result of the migration of asylum seekers or the actions of smugglers, but rather of political decisions by Belarus, Poland and the EU.

On Sunday November 14, Polish authorities found the body of a young Syrian near a village on the Polish-Belarusian border. He probably froze to death from hypothermia. This brings the death toll at the border to at least nine.

An estimated 3,000 to 4,000 asylum seekers are currently stranded at the border, having been physically prevented from entering the EU by Polish authorities. The migrants were attacked with water cannons and tear gas after throwing stones across the border to protest their desperate conditions. Meanwhile, on the other side, Belarusian authorities are constantly “guiding” asylum seekers to the Polish border, giving them instructions on “how to cross”.

The border area where asylum seekers are stranded is restricted; no journalist or aid organization is allowed access, which has left thousands of asylum seekers abandoned in appalling conditions.

Poland has deployed 12,000 troops and thousands of police on its border with Belarus, and the UK has just sent 10 troops to help Polish authorities. This created an image of the border as a war zone. Many media, politicians and activists qualify the situation unfolding on the Polish-Belarusian border as a “migrant crisis” or a “refugee crisis”.

But it is neither a war zone nor a migratory crisis; it is a state-caused humanitarian disaster that has left asylum seekers to die and suffer from preventable diseases.

A European political crisis

The decisions taken in Brussels, combined with the policies of the Polish government and the political conflict between Belarus and the EU, created a disaster at the border. Asylum seekers attempting to enter the EU are treated as a bargaining chip by Belarus and EU-backed Poland, which only seek to promote their own political goals.

The EU accuses Belarus of using asylum seekers as a political tool to pressure the EU to negotiate sanctions imposed on President Alexander Lukashenko and other key players in his government.

The EU exercises its power as a regional organization by imposing additional sanctions designed to prevent Belarus from allowing South West Asians to cross into Europe.

But this is not the first crisis of this type that the EU is experiencing at its borders. The escalations on the border between Poland and Belarus are just another example of how EU policy has failed to address the root causes of why people are being forced to enter the EU irregularly.

While EU member states have formally committed to the global refugee protection regime, they have also isolated themselves with carefully crafted migration policies designed to limit, displace and circumvent the legal obligation to provide asylum. The result: no realistic prospect for nationals of “developing countries” to reach the EU, and a decades-long humanitarian catastrophe unfolding at the EU’s borders.

For years, one of the only ways for asylum seekers to reach Europe has been through dangerous roads and relying on smugglers. This has had a devastating impact on the fundamental right to life of these migrants. Between 1993 and 2018, there were 35,000 documented deaths in the Mediterranean.

Today, once again, rather than addressing the underlying problem at the political level, EU officials continue to simply condemn Poland – which itself has obligations as a member of the EU – and Belarus with empty words and without action. The EU has even threatened international airlines with sanctions for transporting people to Belarus. Economic pressure from the EU has already pushed Turkish and Iraqi airlines to limit migrant flights to Belarus.

Brussels continues to play the blame game by accusing states and other actors of misconduct without admitting the failures of the EU’s migration policies and asylum framework.

Future of EU migration policy

Neither the EU nor the Member States have taken action against Poland’s refoulement and violence against asylum seekers. There have also been no investigations or legal proceedings challenging the new Polish “refoulement” law.

Migration is a natural human phenomenon that will continue and be exacerbated with climate change, proxy wars, political turmoil and more. EU Member States must put aside political motivations and xenophobic sentiments and seek a humanitarian solution to migration. This can only happen by restructuring the current asylum framework and providing legal migration routes to the EU.

Member States must agree to establish safe passageways to the EU that distribute asylum seekers fairly across the 27 EU countries. This new framework should offer all asylum seekers, regardless of their nationality or the entry points of transit countries, equal opportunities to be part of the asylum process in the EU.

With the development of a new humane approach to migration, national asylum procedures must be regularly monitored to ensure that all countries provide fair, equal and impartial asylum opportunities and equal rights to beneficiaries of international protection. .

By reforming the asylum framework, the border must also be demilitarized. Borders cannot be treated as war zones where asylum seekers are used as political tools. There must be a sufficient number of accessible and secure border crossing points, so that people can claim their right to seek asylum and go through national determination procedures. Borders should not be military borders where asylum seekers are robbed, beaten and pushed back. EU borders should be safe points for people seeking legal entry into the country by seeking asylum.

The thousands of people stranded between Belarus and Poland are victims of a Europe-wide system that sees the lives of asylum seekers as unnecessary. This is not a “crisis” of migrants or refugees; it is the political systems of the state that are in crisis.

Disclaimer: The views expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views and editorial policies of TRT World.

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Source: TRT World

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