In August 2021, the government of Belarus began sponsoring an influx of migrants, mostly from the Middle East and North Africa, to the borders of Lithuania, Poland and Latvia. Although Belarus denied involvement, both the European Union and independent observers viewed it as hybrid warfare undertaken in response to the deterioration in Belarus–European Union relations following the 2020 Belarusian presidential election and the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests. Between August and December 2021, tens of thousands of unauthorized border crossing attempts were recorded, peaking in October. At least 20 migrants died in the following winter due to the harsh weather and abuse from border authorities. Attempted border crossings fell sharply the following year, but never returned to their pre-crisis levels. In the spring of 2024, numbers began rising again, although they remain well below those seen in the peak of the crisis in 2021.
The crisis began sometime around 7 July 2021, when Belarus's president Alexander Lukashenko threatened to "flood" the EU with "drugs and migrants". Belarusian authorities and state-controlled travel agencies, together with some airlines operating in the Middle East, started advertising tours to Belarus and falsely promoting opportunities of easy entry into the European Union. Those who arrived in Belarus, most of whom were trying to reach Germany, were then given instructions about how and where to cross the EU's border, and what to tell the border guards on the other side of it. Migrants said that Belarus provided them with wire cutters and axes to cut through border barriers and enter the EU. However, those who did not manage to cross were often forced to stay on the border by Belarusian authorities, who were accused of assaulting migrants who failed to get across. Belarus has repeatedly refused entry to Polish convoys carrying humanitarian aid for migrants.
Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia each declared states of emergency and announced their intentions to build border walls. The EU sent supporting officers and patrol cars to Lithuania, and 12 EU governments stated their support for a physical barrier along the border. After the EU refused to finance protective structures on the external borders, Poland and Lithuania completed their barriers on the border with Belarus on their own.
Human Rights Watch accused Belarusian authorities of manufacturing the crisis and state-level mass exploitation of migrants, making Belarusian border guards responsible for violence, inhuman and degrading treatment and use of coercion against migrants. Other human rights organizations and academics voiced concerns over the use of migrant pushbacks by Lithuanian, Latvian and Polish border guards, the denial of the possibility to lodge an asylum claim, as well as inadequate food, water, and shelter for the migrants, the latter of which was a subject of a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) order. Polish officials have additionally been criticised for not allowing journalists, doctors, and non-governmental organizations to the border.
Background
In 2020, Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since July 1994, claimed victory in that year's presidential election, which was widely considered rigged by European democracies and independent observers. The official results contained implausible discrepancies, particularly at the nationwide level but also in many individual electoral districts. Based on exit polls, Lukashenko might have lost the elections to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. The Lukashenko regime had been widely accused of electoral fraud in previous elections, including by Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) observers, who were often restricted from monitoring election conduct.
The election resulted in Belarus' largest-ever protests, which were violently repressed by the government. Around 30,000 people were arrested, with several deaths and thousands of documented cases of torture in custody. Most Western countries refused to recognize the result of the election. The European Union imposed sanctions on Belarusian officials in response to the electoral fraud and the violent quashing of the subsequent protests.
Relations deteriorated further in the following year in May 2021, when Belarus intercepted a Polish commercial airplane overflying its territory on a regularly scheduled passenger flight and arrested two of its passengers, opposition activist and journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega. In response, the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada announced further sanctions against members of the government of Belarus as well as Belarusian state-owned companies. The sanctions included individual travel bans for government members, asset freezes and a ban on Belarusian aircraft from flying into EU airspace.
At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in August 2021, Poland granted asylum to Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, which led to further Belarus-EU tensions. Tsimanouskaya had criticized the management style of her coaches, who then tried to force her back to Belarus; fearing retaliation at home, she refused to board her return flight.
Key features
In May 2021, Lithuania began reporting a sudden increase in the number of irregular border crossings from Belarus. By June, Lithuania had detained over 600 people trying to enter the country (for comparison, 81 people were apprehended in the entire previous year). At the same time, Lukashenko began threatening to allow human traffickers and drug smugglers into Europe, later also implying he might provide migrants with weapons.
Iraqi TV stations repeatedly broadcast a statement by Lukashenko that Belarus would no longer prevent migrants from crossing into the European Union. Syrian media also widely reported on the new "policy". Belarusian authorities encouraged the impression that Belarus was a convenient gateway into Europe.
Ethnic and religious minorities from Iraq (Kurds and Yazidis) were the most frequent category of migrants. According to a CBC investigation, many fled persecution from the Islamic State, but also many migrants come from the Kurdistan Region, which is among the safest in the Middle East; they sought a better life abroad due to the lack of opportunities in the region. Thus most of the migrants were Iraqi Kurds but also included numbers of Iraqi Arabs, Syrians, Yemenites, and some from other regions in both Asia and Africa, including from Afghanistan and Cameroon, notwithstanding a number of Russians.
Role of airlines and tourist agencies
By mid-summer 2021, reports began emerging that Iraqi travel agencies were organizing "tourist trips" to Belarus at significantly reduced prices. Belarus' visa rules were also made much looser in August, allowing citizens of Middle Eastern countries to be issued a Belarusian visa on arrival in Minsk. Belarusian travel agencies began promoting "tours" to Belarus from Iraq.
At the same time, the weekly number of flights to Minsk increased significantly. Iraqi Airways doubled the frequency of its Baghdad-Minsk flights; Belavia, Belarus's state-owned airline, also provided more offers to Middle East flyers. A journalist from Komsomolskaya Pravda noted that while the flight from Baghdad to Minsk carried about 180 people, only 5 people flew in the opposite direction. On 2 August, Iraqi Airways announced three new direct flights to Minsk from the Iraqi cities of Basra, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah. Another major air route was the Istanbul—Minsk flight operated by Belavia and Turkish Airlines. On 28 October, Syrian Cham Wings Airlines, after having made several charter flights, launched a daily connection from Damascus to the Belarusian capital.
A number of travel agencies in Belarus are believed to have been instructed by the government to organize "Belarus tours" for Iraqis. The most prominent was the Belarusian state-owned Tsentrkurort Tsentrkurort (Russian: Центркурорт), which is subordinated to the presidential administration of Belarus. For instance, an investigation by the Russian organization Dossier and German newspaper Der Spiegel revealed that Tsentrkurort was collaborating with several Belarusian and Iraqi travel agencies to facilitate visas for "hunting tours" in Belarus, as well as handling travel arrangements such as flights and accommodation. The travel agency Oskartur (Russian: Оскартур) was also heavily involved in this particular scheme. The pretext "hunting tours" may have been chosen because hunting was exempted from COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions in place at the time. It was also reported that several travel agencies, including Oskartur, were given full access to the international zone of Minsk airport and delegated the power to issue visas, normally reserved for border guards. These companies were suspected to have received special privileges from airport staff and authorities, as other travel agencies were not allowed to provide similar services.
On the border
According to the investigation of LRT, the Lithuanian state media outlet, Iraqi Kurds claimed that they were told that entering the European Union via Belarus was legal. After a few days in Belarusian hotels, migrants were collected, taken to the border and instructed to proceed on foot, believing that a car would be waiting for them in Lithuania. It was reported that they paid up to €15,000 for travel and tourist visas as well as US$3,000–4,000 deposits. According to the investigation of Belarusian news server reform.by, people from the Middle East believe that they should destroy their passport in order to avoid deportation from the EU. Belsat TV journalists found groups in social networks and Telegram groups which provide help and advice for those who cross the Belarus–Lithuania border. Videos of people crossing fences on the Lithuanian side were published there. Migrants repeatedly used the cover story that they are students from Belarusian universities.
Role of Belarusian border guards
Belarus state involvement was suspected from the very beginning of the crisis. Lukashenko personally confirmed that the involvement of Belarusian border troops is "absolutely possible" shortly after numerous videos appeared online showing Belarusian border guards assisting migrants in crossing the border and preventing them from returning to Belarus. In July, reports emerged that Belarusian border guards had been instructed to turn a blind eye to undocumented migrants and stop communicating with their Lithuanian counterparts. In August, footage from a Frontex helicopter showed a group of migrants accompanied by a Belarusian border guard vehicle. According to both the Lithuanian government and reports from migrants themselves, some of the smugglers transporting and advising migrants were being paid by Belarus. Most often Belarusian soldiers were directly involved themselves. In November, several recordings appeared on social media showing Belarusian soldiers shooting near immigrants in order to intimidate them, recorded from both the Polish and Belarusian sides of the border. The Times reported about migrants brought to the border at gunpoint or trucked by people wearing balaclavas; the migrants were then additionally given planks to cross a small border river called Svislach. Later in the crisis, the migrants would be given tools to destroy the border infrastructure. Exiled politician Pavel Latushko claimed that the Belarusian military trained several war veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan to carry out attacks on borders and inside the EU. It was stressed that Belarus previously received significant financial assistance to strengthen the border: in 2001–2012, Belarus received €47.5 million for "integrated border management" and €21 million additionally for related regional projects. After 2012, Belarus received at least €15 million for border-related issues (excluding customs). In particular, EU funded the reequipment of Belarusian border infrastructure which was considered a "significant and effective" help, paid for special BOMBEL project against illegal migration and other projects (AENEAS and AWABEL).
Illegal migrants had full permissiveness to violate several Belarusian laws without any punishment. Belarusian lawyer Mikhail Kiryliuk suggested that the migrants made at least five violations of the Code about administrative offenses (articles 11.3, 16.17, 18.20, 18.29, 24.23) and three violations of the Criminal Code (293, 371, 126). He also suggested that inaction of the Belarusian military who stood just behind the migrants attacking Polish border guards can be treated as a violation of the Criminal Code.
Smugglers pick those migrants who managed to cross the border in the EU and transfer them westwards (usually to Germany). While human trafficking is a crime, Polish authorities have encountered misinformation suggesting that Poland allowed such operations to take place. Up to 4 November 2021, 235 people have been detained in Podlaskie Voivodeship alone due to human trafficking charges since the crisis on the Polish border began. However, those migrants who fail to cross the border are often prohibited to return home from Belarus and are forced to stay on the border (one of the tactics used by the Belarusian military was compared to anti-retreat forces). A group of Yazidi migrants complained to reporters that they were beaten by Belarusian border guards when they tried to return to Iraq after an unsuccessful attempt to sneak to Poland. The guards, according to these people, forced them to stay on the border. An Iraqi Kurd who decided to seek political asylum in Belarus after unsuccessful attempt to sneak to Poland claimed that the Belarusian police used a stun gun and forced him to leave the country after he declared his wish to stay in Belarus as a legal refugee. According to the Human Rights Watch research, Belarusian border guards gathered those migrants who were pushed back from Poland to Belarus detaining and abusing them in special sites and not letting them to return to Minsk or their home.
The main purpose of the Lukashenko-led crisis is, according to Maksim Samorukov of the Carnegie Moscow Center, the attempt to legitimize his rigged reelection in 2020 and to lift sanctions by showing his ability to stop the influx of migrants.
Lithuania
Lithuania has a 680-kilometre-long (420 mi) border with Belarus. At the beginning of the crisis, the border was described as insufficiently protected, often with low wooden fences or small ditches. According to public figures, the country had 81 refugees in 2020. In the years preceding the crisis, the number of illegal migrants crossing into Lithuania via Belarus averaged around 70. However, in June 2021, the number of illegal migrants who were detained rose to around 470, rising to thousands the next month.