UN condemnations for using the stranded refugees at the Polish border as “political pawns”
Yesterday, Monday, the United Nations expressed its condemnation for exploiting the stranded refugees at the Polish-Belarus border.
The spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Stephane Dujarric, said during a press conference: “The United Nations is closely following what is happening on the Polish-Belarus border.”
He added that refugees should not be used as political pawns, especially when talking about vulnerable people who want to obtain their right to live in safety.
Dujarric called for respecting the basic principles relating to the 1951 Refugee Convention.
Dujarric’s statements came during a press conference held yesterday, Monday, at the United Nations headquarters in New York, in which he answered questions from journalists about the position of the Secretary-General of the Organization regarding the presence of more than a thousand refugees, most of whom are stranded at the Polish-Belarus border.
The 1951 Refugee Convention stipulates basic rights that refugees must enjoy, such as freedom of religion, freedom of movement, access to education, travel documents, and access to employment opportunities.
Earlier, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland announced an increase in the number of illegal stranded refugees at the border with Belarus.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that his country will not prevent the flow of migrants to the European Union as a result of economic sanctions imposed on it.
For his part, Polish government spokesman Peter Muller said last October, “Belarus has forced refugees to cross into Polish territory.”
