EU has announced to impose new sanctions on Belarus, targeting everyone who is responsible for triggering the ongoing migrant crisis
The European Union (E.U.) has announced to impose new sanctions on Belarus, targeting everyone who is responsible for triggering the ongoing migrant crisis at Poland-Belarus border.
Addressing a Press Conference, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy – Josep Borrell said that sanctions will be imposed on people, airlines, travel agents and everyone who is responsible for this surge of migrants at the border. The complete list of targeted people and entities will be conformed in a few days. This will be the fifth round of sanctions on Belarusian Government.
Taking it to twitter, Borrell tweeted,
EU Foreign Ministers #FAC agreed to adopt 5th sanctions package and expand scope of sanctions regime on #Belarus.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) November 16, 2021
This will allow us to target those responsible for exploiting vulnerable migrants and facilitating illegal border crossings into the EU.https://t.co/qtDw3reAij pic.twitter.com/4Gd9yF0QKo
More than 4,000 migrants at stuck at dire conditions at the border in freezing conditions in makeshifts camp. The Prime Minister of Poland – Mateusz Morawiecki has accused the president of Russian –
Vladimir Putin of orchestrating the migrant crisis at Belarus’s border with Poland. He also said that the President of Belarus – Alexander Lukashenko, who is close ally of Putin, is acting on behalf of Putin by allowing migrants to travel through Belarus and enter the bloc. However, Lukashenko has denied the charges.
The migrants at the border threw stones and Polish forces and tried to destroy the fence. In retaliation, the Polish forces used tear gas and water canon to stop the migrants from entering Poland. There have been more than 5,000 attempts by migrants in this month to cross the Polish border as compared to 88 in the whole of 2020. They have accused the Belarusian authorities of providing stun grenades to migrants and also not stopping them from using those stun grenades.
According to international law, the asylum seekers have the right to claim it at the official border crossing but the Polish Government has been denying them entry. Poland has also passed a law which legalises pushing back migrants. Earlier this year, Belarus removed the requirement of visa for Middle East and African countries and opened numerous tourist agencies, allowing an easy and cheap way to move to E.U.
Earlier on Monday, the Chancellor of Germany – Angela Merkel spoke to Lukashenko to take stock of the situation. The President of France – Emmanuel Macron also spoke to Putin on the migrant issue.
Speaking on the occasion, Lukashenko said, “Active work is under way in this area, to convince people – please, return home. But nobody wants to go back.”
He also said that if Poland does not provide a humanitarian corridor, he could ferry people to Germany via its state-run airline Belavia. Meanwhile, Iraq has said it will repatriate its people from the Belarus-Poland border, starting with a first flight carrying 200 people. But many migrants say they don’t want to return and want to move to E.U.
