‘Then I understood what they want’: Unmasking the
Belarus border attack
By Benas
Gerdžiūnas, Indrė Makaraitytė, LRT Investigation Team and Rūta Juknevičiūtė |
LRT.lt/en 22 Dec 2021
[LRT
Investigation / LRT]
Belarusian
officers used migrants as pawns to attack the EU border, handing out axes and
pelting Polish guards with stones. The investigation team of EURACTIV’s media
partner LRT.lt has pieced together a chronology of events with exclusive
witness testimonies revealing the scale of the Belarusian regime’s involvement.
8 November
saw irregular migrants in Belarus head en masse to the border with Poland.
Although it appeared as a self-organised action, LRT Investigation Team has
established the key actors who coordinated the process, with the help of the
Minsk regime:
–
Belarusian officers assisted the migrants by supplying them with axes,
wire-cutters, and other equipment.
– Visual
data reveals that Belarusian officers were mixed in among the crowd of hundreds
of migrants, mostly Kurdish.
– A key
organiser and coordinator of the border action said Belarusian officers were
trying to instigate a mass attack on the Polish border on the night of 13-14
November. The migrants were given protection from tear gas, face covers, and
other equipment.
–
Belarusian officers were liaising directly with at least five migrants, with
the aim of coercing them into attacking the border fence. The plan did not work
out as the asylum seekers feared for the lives of their families.
– People
who introduced themselves as leaders and organisers of the Kurdish migrants in
Belarus were activists associated with one of the largest opposition movements
in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The middleman
Ghalib, one
of the migrants, was under pressure to return to Iraq but he tricked Belarusian
officers by buying stopover tickets to Baghdad via Dubai and then cancelling
the second flight to board a plane to another country.
LRT spoke
with him for the first time in early December when he, together with other
migrants, was still at the Belarusian logistics centre next to the Bruzgi
checkpoint on the Polish border.
He
introduced himself as one of the people leading and helping to organise the
irregular migrants stuck on the border. Ghalib also said he was the liaison
between the predominantly Kurdish migrants and Belarusian officers.
“I am an
organiser. But why am I an organiser? Because everyone in Iraq, especially in
the north, they knew me. I am popular in northern Iraq. I am a person who has
always opposed the government. And I am always against this Kurdish
government,” he said.
Previously,
Ghalib was connected to Gorran, the largest opposition movement in Iraqi
Kurdistan. He said that his departure for Belarus was also coordinated with
local politicians, members of the Gorran movement and that he had been taken to
the airport in Baghdad by a Kurdish politician.
“I met the
Belarusian officers here,” Ghalib told LRT while he was still in Belarus. “They
saw how I communicate with people, how I speak with them. [But] I have nothing
to do with [the Belarusians].”
The
Belarusian officers said “people respect you, you can make their situation
better”, added Ghalib. “We can help you, we can bring you food, water,
everything.”
“I asked
them for toilets, and they brought us toilets. I asked them for everything,” he
said.
Ghalib was
also one of the first people to arrive at the Polish border, before the
collective push by migrants to force their way into Poland.
He was seen
organising people on that day, appearing at the front of the crowd, handing out
food and water from Belarusian officers to other migrants, and speaking with
Belarusian border guards.
Belarusian
officers instigated unrest
“Before, I
didn’t know it, but later I understood the situation between Poland and
Belarus. When I arrived in Belarus, at first I didn’t see it,” Ghalib said
after leaving Belarus.
On 8
November, when hundreds of people gathered by the border, some tried to break
the fence with tree branches, shovels, and wire cutters. Later, when the
migrants moved to the border checkpoint, the Polish forces were pelted by
bottles and stones.
“They
helped, the Belarusians helped. They said – you have 3,000 people. We say that
the road was long, the border is long, it’s difficult, [there are] children,”
said Ghalib. “They told someone that ‘we will give you tools to cut down trees,
we will give you wire cutters’. And they gave us everything.”
LRT’s
Investigation Team analysed hours of video footage posted on social media by
the migrants. The recordings suggest that Belarusian officers were already
mixed in among the crowd when it moved toward the Polish border on 8 November.
Later, the
same Belarusian officers are seen in videos sent to LRT by Ghalib, which were
recorded covertly by his friends. In them, the Belarusians speak to Ghalib
inside the logistics centre at the border.
According
to Ghalib, the Belarusian officers had his phone number and were constantly in
touch. On 13 November – a few days before the most violent border clashes – the
Belarusian officers called Ghalib “some 15–16 times”.
With
Belarusian guards behind him, Ghalib was pushed to ask other migrants if they
would take part in an organised attack.
“They
wanted me and four or five other people, who were given goggles, hats, and
scarves to cover our faces, to break the fence and push through,” said Ghalib.
The
Belarusian officers were plotting for the attack to take place on the night of
13-14 November. According to the plan presented to the Kurds, a group of
migrants would cut through the fence and the others would follow.
KGB officers maintained constant contact
At the
logistics centre, communication between the Belarusians and the migrants
continued to go through Ghalib. He said he would usually speak to a man named
Alexey, who claimed to have worked for the Belarusian security service, the
KGB. Another officer would usually accompany him, known as “boss Sasha”.
According
to Ghalib, the Belarusians would always push for people to head to the border
at night.
“The
Belarusian strategy was not to let the Polish stay calm at night. I saw it
myself,” said Ghalib.
There were
also Belarusians dressed in civilian clothes who would guide the migrants
toward the Polish border, according to Ghalib. They were also the ones who
would throw rocks at the guards on the other side.
“A large
group would go, around 16–18 people. Then four or five soldiers would come.
They breached the fence, and when the Polish guards came, they started throwing
rocks,” said Ghalib. “They made sure to keep the Polish busy, fighting them
with rocks until people crossed the border.”
Preparation for the attack
The LRT
Investigation Team pieced together the chronology of the events at the border.
On 5
November, three days before the collective march to the Polish border, several
dozen migrants gathered in downtown Minsk, near a popular shopping centre,
Galleria.
On the same
night, Kurdish social media and Telegram groups lit up with video footage,
where a young man – Amanj – calls out to his compatriots in Belarus: “On
[November] 7, all Kurds, Arabs, need to gather together because smugglers take
7,000–8,000 dollars, but they trick us and play with our fates. Let’s all
gather together and go in a big group.”
A Facebook group called Refugee Office was one
of the groups that coordinated the departure for the border. It issued another
announcement: “We all gather tomorrow at midday in front of Galleria in Minsk.”
On 6
November, the migrants started gathering in central Minsk. In the morning, more
videos emerged showing people shopping at markets to prepare for the trek.
Others posted pictures from inside their hotel rooms with prepared tents and
sleeping bags.
Around a
hundred migrants then gathered in front of the Galleria shopping centre.
Amanj sends
another message: “From the thousands who should have gathered, only a hundred
arrived. If everyone would come, we’re not saying women and children, it would
be better for everyone. The people who are afraid to get hit, or are afraid of
bullets or water, and will turn back, it’s better they do not go at all.”
Across
social media, the Kurds share the location of the gathering – a Belorusneft
petrol station next to the Bruzgy-Kuznica border crossing.
On the
night between 7 and 8 November, migrants in taxis and buses head toward the
meeting point. They stay in the forest until the morning.
On 8
November, they head to the Polish border, where they attempt to break through
to Poland. The Refugee Office Facebook page publishes video footage, saying
that “tens of buses and cars are taking [people] to the border”.
A day
later, the same Facebook page issues another announcement: “Those migrants who
are in Belarus, this is your last chance. Tomorrow at 10:00, in front of the
Galleria shopping centre. The organisers are waiting for you.”
‘I thought of the idea myself’
Although
the Belarusian regime helped the migrants, the idea to organise the collective
departure for the border originated from the migrants themselves.
“I am very
proud that I have organised the people and brought them here,” Pshtiwan Hajy
Esa, a migrant who came to Belarus from Iraqi Kurdistan together with his
family, told LRT.
LRT sources
confirmed him as the person responsible for organising the collective
departure. Pshtiwan was also seen at the front of the crowd and appeared in
interviews and video reels published from the border.
“Everyone
who had a choice to come here, they came here. No one gave me this idea. Like I
said, people didn’t want to pay smugglers so much money,” he said.
Pshtiwan
said he came to Belarus together with his wife and three children, paying
smugglers $30,000 in total.
“There are
more than 3,000 of us,” he said. “I know that people do stupid things, they
burn things, but we all came here and we will all die here. Everyone who came
here has chosen this path. We came here, to Europe, we have left our country
for certain reasons.”
Pshtiwan
was still at the logistics centre when LRT spoke with him. He said he had not
coordinated his actions with Belarusian officers.
Number of flights increased before the attack
On 31 October,
Minsk Airport announced additional flights for the autumn and winter season.
According to the published timetable, flights from Baghdad were to increase to
four per week and would include an additional direct flight from Erbil in Iraqi
Kurdistan.
Up to two
flights per day were also scheduled from Dubai to Minsk, as well as a daily
flight from Damascus. The sharpest increase was reported via Istanbul – at
least one flight per day.
It is
likely that the Belarusian regime was preparing to increase the scale of
irregular migration to pressure the European Union in what Baltic officials and
Brussels called a “hybrid attack”.
On 1-3
November, the Belarusian Ambassador to Turkey and Iraq, Victor Rybak, met with
representatives of the Kurdish government, including Prime Minister Masrour
Barzani, who is also the head of the ruling KDP party, as well as with the
former president of the region, Masoud Barzani.
The
Belarusian ambassador also met with Interior Minister Rebar Ahmed Khalid and
the head of foreign relations at KDP, Safeen Dizai.
On 3
November, Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikalai Barysevich met with Syrian
ambassador Mahomed Al-Amrani. According to their official statements, they
discussed solidarity amid sanctions imposed by the West.
Later, on
20 November, Belarus sent humanitarian aid to Syria, including medicines and
food.
On 2
December, the European Council adopted a sanctions package against Belarus
which included the state-owned carrier Belavia and the Syrian airliner Cham
Wings, which were implicated in transporting migrants to Belarus.
Pushing people across
The
warehouse on the Belarusian–Polish border is being emptied out. The Iraqi
ambassador to Russia has claimed that more than 3,000 people were brought back
from Belarus. Until then, they stayed at the logistics centre for more than
three weeks.
The
Belarusian regime is again pushing those who would not return, or have arrived
from countries other than Iraq, toward the EU. This was confirmed to LRT by at
least five migrants who have remained in Belarus.
Ahmad came
to Belarus from Syria together with a group of 12 people. They tried
unsuccessfully to cross into Poland and Lithuania. The first time, Belarusian
officers stopped them on their way to the Polish border, stole some of their
belongings, and brought them back to the logistics centre.
“Among us,
there was a migrant who could speak Russian and could communicate with the
Belarusian soldiers. They said they could help us,” said Ahmad. “A few hours
later, they took us to an unknown location in a military truck.”
There, more
buses were waiting for the migrants, he continued.
“We were
driven around for four hours, we couldn’t see anything because the windows were
covered with black tape. There were around 70 people in one bus. People were
shouting, crying,” Ahmad recalled.
“Finally,
when it was already dawn, they brought our group to a forest, where there was a
small river. They forced us to wade across, and those who didn’t agree were
beaten.”
Why Kurdistan?
Most of the
irregular migrants attempting to cross the Belarusian border with Latvia,
Lithuania, and Poland are from Iraqi Kurdistan.
Mera J
Bakr, who researches Kurdish migration at the German Konrad Adenauer
Foundation, said the scale of migration from the area grew in 2014. Back then,
however, there were no easy routes – crossing the Mediterranean was too
dangerous for families.
Last
spring, the Belarusian regime eased visa procedures for Iraqi passport holders
– and information about the new route to Europe started trending on Kurdish
social media, according to Bark.
The
situation was aggravated by the deteriorating political situation in Kurdistan,
which was also exploited by the opposition, including the New Generation
Movement. Its leader, Shashwar Abdulahid, also controls the most popular
Kurdish opposition media group, NRT.
The
government in Iraqi Kurdistan is concentrated in the hands of two clans. The
most important posts are held by the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), headed by
the Barzani family. Meanwhile, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), headed
by the Talabanis, is now being shaken by an internal crisis.
The
opposition NRT media have devoted extensive attention to migration and the
situation on the Polish border. People interviewed by reporters said that
internal Kurdish problems were the reason for their departure.
“The rule
of the two parties has left our country without hope,” said a migrant, Peshawa,
adding that the people who are stranded at the border would never return to
Kurdistan. “Even if we have to die here,” another Kurd added, who was seen at
the Polish border together with a wife and three small children.
One
Facebook page administered by an NRT journalist living in Germany, Halgord
Omar, became the main streaming platform from the camp at the border.
The page,
Halgord Omar Presse, would routinely report that the migrant influx would cease
as soon as the two ruling families in Iraqi Kurdistan stepped down.
Alongside
the border crisis, mass student protests were taking place across Iraqi
Kurdistan. Supporters of the demonstration also formed the core of the New
Generation Movement.
Mera J Bakr
told LRT that the New Generation Movement is extremely populist, which
contributed to extinguishing the Gorran movement, pulling over voters from the
movement that was the main hope for opposition supporters.
The fall of
Gorran dispelled illusions for many that the situation in Kurdistan, considered
one of the most stable in the region, would improve. The two ruling parties
also began persecuting former opposition activists, as well as regular Kurds
who criticise the ruling parties.
The Kurdish
migrants who introduced themselves as the key organisers and coordinators of
the border action were formerly linked with the Gorran movement.
At present,
what’s left of Gorran, as well as the New Generation Movement and opposition
media, use the migration crisis as a tool to pressure the ruling clans.
The Kurdish
government, after coming under international pressure, was forced to react.
Although they put the blame on smuggler networks, Kurdish officials started
encouraging people to stay and helping those who wished to return.
Representatives
of the Kurdish government, the PUK and KDP parties, did not respond to repeated
emails and calls from LRT.
[Edited by
Zoran Radosavljevic and Benjamin Fox]
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