TUESDAY- 16th November, 2021: Belarus is launching an investigation into what it calls the “incident” at the Belarus-Polish border earlier Tuesday, the official representative of the State Border Committee, Anton Bychkovsky, told Belarus state media outlet BelTA. Violence erupted as migrants threw stones at Polish border guards who responded with tear gas and water cannon.
Bychkovsky said the flare-up was instigated by the Polish side and accused them of "violent actions" against migrants on the border.
"In fact, the fence is on Polish territory, so Belarusian border guards have no legal right to approach it. To push back the migrants, the Polish side used tear gas," Bychkovsky said.
"This angered the refugees even more, who began throwing stones, sticks, everything that came to hand at a critical moment, including shoes, at the security forces. In response, the Polish side fired water cannon jets and stun grenades at the unarmed refugees."
Belarus authorities recorded the use of special equipment by the Polish security forces against unarmed people on the Belarusian side, he said.
“This is regarded as nothing other than violent actions against persons who are on the territory of another country. The Belarusian side is initiating an investigation of this incident,” Bychkovsky announced.
Migrants are stranded in freezing conditions at the Poland-Belarus and “there is very little sign at this point of any side backing down,” CNN’s Matthew Chance reported on Tuesday from the site.
The crowds were sprayed with water cannon after tensions escalated with Polish forces on Tuesday morning. “There was something acrid in the water” that stung people’s eyes and made others cough, Chance reported from within the crowds.
He said temperatures drop to “well below freezing at night” and can plunge dangerously low in Belarus in the depths of winter.
“This humanitarian crisis is running against the clock of the seasons … we really are going to have an acutely serious situation” if temperatures fall in the coming days and weeks, he said.
People are without sufficient shelter — most only have access to a tent or a sleeping bag, and a few clothes, as the crisis drags on.
“Everybody’s wet, everybody’s hungry,” Chance said, summarising the sentiment among many of the migrants gathered at the site.
Lukashenko to discuss migrant situation with Merkel
Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko holds a meeting in Minsk, Belarus, on the situation at the Belarus-Poland border on November 16. (Nikolai Petrov/Belta/TASS/Getty Images)
Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko said he has spoken with Angela Merkel about the migrant crisis at the Polish border, and will hold another call with the German Chancellor soon.
The President's Office said in a statement that Lukashenko made a proposal on how to deal with the situation, and that the two leaders would speak again once Merkel had raised the issue with EU member states.
"There are more than 2,100 (migrants) and maybe even more, who are concentrated at the Bruzgi border crossing. You know that they have set up camp there, 800 meters from this crossing, and were constantly there for a week. Yesterday they took off and walked 800 meters and filled up the Bruzgi border crossing. This is the biggest problem," Alexander Lukashenko told the German chancellor, according to the readout.
"I know that there have already been attempts to deliver weapons to the migrant camp. As well as provocations that can lead to a violent conflict. In no case should this be allowed. This so-called problem cannot become the unleashing of a heated confrontation," he said.
