© Reuters. Iraqi migrant Umm Malak, 26 years outdated and 9 months pregnant, talks to Reuters on the migrants centre in Bialystok, Poland, November 12, 2021. Image taken November 12, 2021. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
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By Yara Abi Nader and Joanna Plucinska
BIALYSTOK, Poland (Reuters) – Umm Malak, 26 and attributable to give delivery in weeks, was keen to undergo chest-deep water, hiding in chilly forests together with her three small daughters within the hopes of giving them a greater life in Germany.
The Iraqi lady mentioned she didn’t remorse her efforts, regardless that she mentioned she and her household had been shunted between Polish and Belarusian border guards six occasions in the previous couple of weeks.
“The way forward for my youngsters, I’ve to consider this primary, as a result of in Iraq, there isn’t a future, neither for us nor for them.”
A Polish police spokesperson mentioned police didn’t conduct actions comparable to taking migrants again to the border. Neither the Polish Border Guard nor Belarusian authorities responded to requests for touch upon her case.
Reuters couldn’t independently confirm her account.
Umm Malak, who declined to present her full identify, is one in all 1000’s of migrants, a lot of them Iraqis, who’ve tried to get into the European Union by Belarus beginning within the spring.
Reuters spoke to her in a migrant centre within the Polish metropolis of Bialystok, the place she was staying together with her husband and three daughters. The migrant centre is an open one, which means migrants can come and go freely, as soon as they’ve fulfilled any coronavirus quarantine necessities.
Umm Malak mentioned she was attributable to give delivery in three weeks and hoped it could be in Germany.
The European Union accuses Minsk of making the disaster as a part of a “hybrid assault” on the bloc – distributing Belarusian visas within the Center East, flying within the migrants after which pushing them to cross the border illegally.
Belarus denies fomenting the disaster, however has additionally mentioned it can not assist resolve it except Europe lifts present sanctions.
Poland has detained some migrants in closed detention centres and transferred others to open centres, largely those that are sick, aged or have babies.
Umm Malak mentioned she landed in Belarus from Dubai at the start of October and had hoped to cross the Belarusian border then go by highway to Germany together with her daughters, all underneath the age of 10, and her husband. She mentioned six of their makes an attempt to cross into Poland have been foiled.
FELL IN A POND
On just a few events, she mentioned the Polish authorities caught them, taking them again to the border with Belarus. On one other try, she mentioned they crossed into Lithuania however obtained drained and returned.
On one try to enter Poland, Umm Malak mentioned the Belarusian authorities helped her lower the border fence with Poland to let her and her household by.
She mentioned she then fell right into a pond close to the border and obtained sick, already eight months pregnant. The Polish authorities detained her for 3 days, then took her to a closed migrant centre for a day, then to an open one, she mentioned.
“We fell into the pond at midday then in a single day… they (the Polish border guard) obtained us. After they obtained us, I could not stand on my own,” she mentioned.
Some migrants on the open heart in Bialystok instructed Reuters, talking on situation of anonymity, that they regretted the journey to Poland and that they have been calling family members again within the Center East telling them to not come.
However Umm Malak mentioned migrants, particularly these from Iraq like her, ought to nonetheless attempt getting over the border to the EU.
“I’d advise all these considering of coming to do it, as a result of there isn’t a future or safety or something in Iraq,” she mentioned. “So bear the difficulties of the journey for a month or two, for per week or two, as an alternative of continuous to undergo in Iraq for years.”
