The young migrant from the Syrian city of Homs, Ahmed Al-Hassan (19 years old), was buried on Monday in the small border town of Bohoniki, Poland, after authorities found his lifeless body in the frozen brush in late October, following his illegal entry from neighboring Belarus, according to a report by the New York Times. Thousands of migrants from the Middle East are stranded in the frozen woods in severe cold weather at the border between Belarus and Poland, as well as Lithuania, both EU members, which are refusing entry to migrants.
Al-Hassan's body was discovered floating in a river in late October, near Bohoniki, the historic home of the Muslim Tatar minority in Poland, where a mosque exists, and an imam managed to conduct the funeral rites and bury him according to Islamic teachings. Among those who attended the burial and funeral was Fida Al-Hassan, a Syrian doctor living in the nearby town of Bialystok, who came with his father visiting from Canada. Al-Hassan told the New York Times, "I came here today because I see it as our duty to pray the funeral prayer for the soul of this boy who has no family here."
The newspaper witnessed the discovery of another pair of Syrian brothers from Homs, Lyouis (41 years old) and Khadr (39 years old), found by rescue workers late on Sunday, frozen after being stranded for several days. The newspaper reported, "Their faces were half-frozen and their lips were blue from the cold; they could barely utter a word to the rescue workers who found them." One activist from a Polish charity assisting migrants since September told the newspaper: "They had been in the forest for at least four days. They just told us their names, and we don’t know anything else."
While activists along the border had received many messages from desperate migrants over the past two months, their phones have remained silent since last week, indicating a significant presence of Polish forces that have tightened border restrictions, sending back anyone they manage to catch during attempts to cross into their territory. A former truck driver from Iraq, stranded with his wife and three children, including an infant and an eight-year-old amputee, told the AFP: "I want to go to any country. We are all tired and at the end of our rope."
Warsaw announced on Monday that it would begin constructing a wall along the border with Belarus in December, expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022, according to a statement from the Polish Ministry of Interior. The funeral of Al-Hassan in Bohoniki coincided with Belarusian forces still gathering large groups of migrants and encouraging them to forge their way through the Polish border, about 15 minutes' drive to the northeast, despite assurances given by Minsk about returning migrants who are camped at the Polish border "to their countries." At least ten migrants have already died, and there are concerns about the safety of those remaining in the winter weather.
Through loudspeakers, Polish border guards warned hundreds of migrants gathered at the Belarusian crossing opposite the Polish town of Kuznica: "Attention! Illegal border crossing is prohibited. You may face criminal prosecution." After being stranded at the border between Belarus and Poland, between two thousand and three thousand migrants, mostly from Iraq's Kurdistan and including many children, are preparing to spend Monday night in tents in freezing conditions.
The European Union accuses Belarus of sending migrants to the border in retaliation for sanctions imposed by the bloc on Minsk. On Monday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced, after a meeting of EU member states' foreign ministers, that the bloc would adopt "in the coming days" new sanctions against individuals and organizations involved in the flow of migrants. He added that "today’s decision reflects the EU's determination to stand against the exploitation of migrants for political purposes... We are resisting this inhumane and illegal practice."
The new sanctions will target "individuals and entities that organize or contribute to the activities of the Lukashenko regime that facilitate illegal crossing of the EU's external borders," according to the European Commission. The New York Times quoted EU officials as saying that over twenty Belarusian officials may be targeted, as well as a Syrian airline for transporting migrants to Belarus, a hotel in the capital Minsk for housing migrants, and possibly Minsk Airport. The US State Department announced on Monday that Washington is "preparing" to impose new sanctions on Minsk "in coordination with the European Union." The State Department emphasized that it "will continue to hold" the Lukashenko regime accountable for its continued violations of "democracy, human rights, and international standards."
