With the Russian aggression on Ukraine, racism against Middle Eastern and African people in Europe has also risen. While Poland opens its borders only for Ukrainan people, it does not allow Africans in. The racism is not limited to this. The migrants trapped in the buffer zone at Belarus-Poland border are virtually left to die. A group of people, among them journalist Arko Mecîd, are kept waiting in the buffer zone for days.

‘WE ARE TORTURED BY BOTH PARTIES’

Journalist Arko Mecîd spoke to Medya News regarding the inhumane treatment experienced by the migrants who have had no food for the past five days.

Mecîd said, “We are at the Poland-Belarus border. We have been here for five days. We are three young men from Sulaymaniyah. We reached the Poland border after walking for several days. The soldiers you see are Poland’s. We do not know what to do. We are staging a sit-in but it is very cold here. We suffer torture by the Polish troops when we attempt to enter their territory, and by the Belarus troops when we attempt to enter there. All the groups that attempt to cross the border are captured, have their mobile phones broken and everything else seized, before being pushed into the other side.”