TUESDAY December 7, 2021: 'Belarus Migration Game' from ZUMA Press photographers Sergei Bobylev, Maxim Guchek, Oksana Manchuk, Ramil Nasibulin and Leonid Shcheglov of TASS: The situation at the Belarus-Poland border is unlike recent immigration crises. The European Commission has accused Belarus of luring migrants to Minsk with the false promise of easy entry to the EU. Belarus's leader Lukashenko denies orchestrating the problem. Migrants have described how Belarusian authorities seized their phones and pushed them towards the border fence. International law states that anyone seeking protection must be given access to the asylum process. Many people in Belarus and Poland left Iraq and Syria seeking economic opportunity - they would not qualify for asylum and human rights groups have accused the EU of ignoring what is happening on the ground. The main flash point of the crisis was defused last month after the Belarusian authorities moved thousands of migrants from a sprawling encampment near the Polish border, yet thousands remain stranded under freezing temperatures, and at least 12 people have died. The migrant crisis in Belarus is a window into the failure of today's global order to solve a growing problem. Welcome to 'Belarus Migration Game'
© zReportage.com Story of the Week #817: TUESDAY December 7, 2021: 'Belarus Migration Game' from ZUMA Press photographers Sergei Bobylev, Maxim Guchek, Oksana Manchuk, Ramil Nasibulin and Leonid Shcheglov of TASS: The situation at the Belarus-Poland border is unlike recent immigration crises. The European Commission has accused Belarus of luring migrants to Minsk with the false promise of easy entry to the EU. Belarus's leader Lukashenko denies orchestrating the problem. Migrants have described how Belarusian authorities seized their phones and pushed them towards the border fence. International law states that anyone seeking protection must be given access to the asylum process. Many people in Belarus and Poland left Iraq and Syria seeking economic opportunity - they would not qualify for asylum and human rights groups have accused the EU of ignoring what is happening on the ground. The main flash point of the crisis was defused last month after the Belarusian authorities moved thousands of migrants from a sprawling encampment near the Polish border, yet thousands remain stranded under freezing temperatures, and at least 12 people have died. The migrant crisis in Belarus is a window into the failure of today's global order to solve a growing problem. Welcome to 'Belarus Migration Game'
Migrants looking for way to enter Poland, stand with many young children on the Belarusian-Polish border. Human rights groups have criticized Poland and Belarus for their treatment of asylum seekers stranded at the countries' shared border.
© Leonid Shcheglov/TASS via ZUMA Press
Polish riot police officers guard the area by the Belarusian-Polish border. Poland fears huge migrant breach on Belarus Border, as nearly 1,000 refugees move towards the Polish border.
© Leonid Shcheglov/TASS via ZUMA Press
Children look out from a tent pitched in the woods as migrants camp on the Belarusian-Polish border. Nearly 1,000 refugees were heading towards the Polish border intending to apply for refugee status in an EU country. Poland's troops in the border regions were put on full alert.
© Leonid Shcheglov/TASS via ZUMA Press
Migrants in a makeshift shelter of tree branches sit beside a wood fire in a camp immediately across from the Belarusian-Polish border. Polish border guards have prevented more than 35,000 attempts to illegally cross the Polish-Belarusian border, which is 400 times more than last year.
© Ramil Nasibulin/TASS via ZUMA Press
A young migrant child holds a sign with a message reading 'I Want Go To School' in a refugee camp on the Belarusian-Polish border. NGO workers and activists in Poland have raised the alarm over child refugees on both sides of the border as the crisis deepens and weather conditions deteriorate.
© Leonid Shcheglov/TASS via ZUMA Press
Migrants reach for food and other supplies in a tent camp on the Belarusian-Polish border. Several thousand migrants have approached the Belarusian-Polish border and set up a tent camp there. Some of them have attempted to cross the border into Poland by breaking through the barbed wire fence.
© Ramil Nasibulin/TASS via ZUMA Press
Migrants walk past barbed wire to a camp on the Belarusian-Polish border. Polish border guards have prevented more than 35,000 attempts to illegally cross the Polish-Belarusian border, which is 400 times more than last year.
© Leonid Shcheglov/TASS via ZUMA Press
A man carries a child on his shoulders as hundreds of refugees walk through fields at Kuznica Bialostocka-Bruzgi border crossing on the Polish-Belarusian border as seen from Belarus.
© Oksana Manchuk/TASS via ZUMA Press
A Belarusian border guard hands out toys to children at a migrant camp on the Belarusian-Polish border. NGO workers and activists in Poland have raised the alarm over child refugees on both sides of the border as the crisis deepens and weather conditions deteriorate.
© Leonid Shcheglov/TASS via ZUMA Press
Migrants some holding small children wait in front of guards to receive humanitarian aid on the Belarusian-Polish border. Belarusian authorities have granted the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and the Belarus Red Cross, access to provide aid to those stuck in makeshift camps.
© Oksana Manchuk/TASS via ZUMA Press
Migrants many with young children at a tent camp near the Belarusian-Polish border. NGO workers and activists in Poland have raised the alarm over child refugees on both sides of the border as the crisis deepens and weather conditions deteriorate.
© Leonid Shcheglov/TASS via ZUMA Press
Smoke from fires fills the air as migrants shelter in a tent camp infront of the Bruzgi checkpoint on the Belarusian-Polish border. Polish border guards have prevented more than 35,000 attempts to illegally cross the Polish-Belarusian border, which is 400 times more than last year.
© Leonid Shcheglov/TASS via ZUMA Press
A child at the migrants tent camp with 'Die' written with red sharpie on her forehead, on the Belarusian-Polish border. At least one child has died as others among the thousands of people gathered at the border suffer from hunger and hypothermia.
© Maxim Guchek/TASS via ZUMA Press
Polish police officers watch from behind barbed wire as migrants wait in a tent camp on the Belarusian-Polish border, all of them seeking asylum across the nearby border into Poland.
© Maxim Guchek/TASS via ZUMA Press
Refugees line up in the evening cold to receive hot drinking water at the temporary shelter set up at the Bruzgi Transport and Logistics Centre, near the Belarusian-Polish border.
© Sergei Bobylev/TASS via ZUMA Press
A refugee child at the Bruzgi Transport and Logistics Centre, northeast of Kuznica Bialostocka-Bruzgi border. At least one child has died as others among the thousands of people gathered at the border suffer from hunger and hypothermia.
© November 22, 2021, Grodno Region, Belarus: A refugee child at the Bruzgi Transport and Logistics Centre, northeast of Kuznica Bialostocka-Bruzgi border. At least one child has died as others among the thousands of people gathered at the border suffer from hunger and hypothermia.
© Sergei Bobylev/TASS via ZUMA Press
World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Europe HANS HENRI P. KLUGE talks with a young girl refugee as he visits the refugee camp at the Bruzgi Transport and Logistics Centre, near the Belarusian-Polish border.
© Sergei Bobylev/TASS via ZUMA Press
Migrants from Iran put up country signs marking their makeshift shelters inside the Bruzgi transport and logistics center near the Belarusian-Polish border.
© Sergei Bobylev/TASS via ZUMA Press
Migrant children have their heads checked for lice ahead of taking a cleansing sauna organized at the Bruzgi Transport and Logistics Centre, near the Kuznica Bialostocka-Bruzgi border crossing.
© Sergei Bobylev/TASS via ZUMA Press
Refugees shelter inside the Bruzgi Transport and Logistics Centre, near the Kuznica Bialostocka-Bruzgi border crossing. Belarusian authorities opened the building to temporarily house migrants.
© Sergei Bobylev/TASS via ZUMA Press
Migrants hold hand written messages stating 'We Need A Better Life' and 'We Cant Go back To Iraq' infront of media near the Bruzgi Transport and Logistics Centre, northeast of Kuznica Bialostocka-Bruzgi border crossing.
© Sergei Bobylev/TASS via ZUMA Press
Belarus President ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO talks to migrants by the Bruzgi Transport and Logistics Centre, near the Belarusian-Polish border. 'Go through. Go,' Lukashenko tells migrants then stated that his country would help them to return home if they wanted but would not force them.
© Sergei Bobylev/TASS via ZUMA Press
A migrant sits near his makeshift shelter inside the Bruzgi Transport and Logistics Centre, northeast of Kuznica Bialostocka-Bruzgi border crossing. Belarusian authorities opened the building to temporarily house migrants.
© Sergei Bobylev/TASS via ZUMA Press
A migrant woman wrapped up against the cold receives a hot meal at the temporary refugee shelter setup inside the Bruzgi Transport and Logistics Centre, near the Belarusian-Polish border.
© Sergei Bobylev/TASS via ZUMA Press
A migrant muslim woman in traditional clothing prays at sunrise, kneeling amongst pallets and crates at the Bruzgi Transport and Logistics Centre, near the Belarusian-Polish border.
© Sergei Bobylev/TASS via ZUMA Press
A migrant man laughs while washing his face and hair at the temporary camp at theBruzgi Transport and Logistics Centre, near the Belarusian-Polish border.
© Sergei Bobylev/TASS via ZUMA Press
A migrant wrapped up in the cold weather waits to receive humanitarian aid near the Belarusian-Polish border. Belarusian authorities have granted the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and the Belarus Red Cross, access to provide aid to those stuck in makeshift camps.
© Sergei Bobylev/TASS via ZUMA Press
A Iraqi-kurd migrant with a Kurdistan state tattoo on his chest, takes a cleansing sauna organized by the Bruzgi Transport and Logistics Centre, near the Kuznica Bialostocka-Bruzgi border crossing with Poland.
© Sergei Bobylev/TASS via ZUMA Press
