Rapporteur: Poland's fence on border with Belarus will aggravate migrants’ humanitarian situation

Poland's fence on the border with Belarus will not hold potential migrants back. It will only aggravate their humanitarian situation, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants Felipe González Morales told a press conference on 28 July, BelTA has learned.

The special rapporteur stated that tensions at the border have decreased in recent months. However, according to a number of sources, some migrants remain in the forest.

Poland has completed the construction of a five-meter steel fence with barbed wire along the border with Belarus. "My concern is that the installation of the fence will not hold back the people who are trying to cross the border. It will simply increase the level of danger and will potentially exacerbate the humanitarian situation of migrants," Felipe González Morales said.

"To resolve the situation with the migrants, I call on Poland, Belarus and the EU to engage in a constructive dialogue. Mainly to prevent further human casualties and to ensure that the protection of migrants’ rights is a priority in any solution to be applied to address this situation," the special rapporteur added.