{"id":5352,"date":"2021-11-24T18:23:34","date_gmt":"2021-11-24T18:23:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mediateka.online\/learnrussian\/i-didnt-have-a-life-in-iraq-in-limbo-in-belarus-migrants-cling-to-hopes-that-eu-countries-will-open-their-borders.html"},"modified":"2021-11-24T18:23:34","modified_gmt":"2021-11-24T18:23:36","slug":"i-didnt-have-a-life-in-iraq-in-limbo-in-belarus-migrants-cling-to-hopes-that-eu-countries-will-open-their-borders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediateka.online\/learnrussian\/i-didnt-have-a-life-in-iraq-in-limbo-in-belarus-migrants-cling-to-hopes-that-eu-countries-will-open-their-borders.html","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I didn\u2019t have a life in Iraq\u2019 In limbo in Belarus, migrants cling to hopes that EU countries will open their borders"},"content":{"rendered":"
Migrants outside of the Galleria shopping center in Minsk. November 13, 2021.\u00a0Paul Dza \/ Sipa \/ Scanpix \/ LETA<\/figure>\n

The migration crisis on the border of Belarus and the European Union has been going on for months. Thousands of asylum seekers from Middle Eastern and African countries remain stranded in the Eastern European country. Some of them have made several unsuccessful attempts to cross the border into the EU. Seeing no other way out, many have already given up hope and decided to return to their home countries. Reporting from Minsk, Meduza asks migrants stuck in limbo what made them leave their homelands, why they want to get to the European Union, and what they plan to do next.<\/p>\n

The improvised encampment near Belarus\u2019s Bruzgi border checkpoint was empty on November 18. According to the Belarusian border service, the migrants from the encampment had \u201cvoluntarily moved to the territory of a transport and logistics center\u201d located not far from the border. This \u201crefugee camp\u201d is actually a warehouse, where 2,000 people sleep on mattresses spread on the floor. There, the migrants were provided with food, water, clothing, and even vaccinations against COVID-19, according to the Belarusian state news agency BelTA.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, several hundred migrants have flown home. Around 400 Iraqis, for example, went back to their home country on an evacuation flight operated by Iraqi Airways.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, there are still an estimated 7,000 would-be asylum seekers stranded in Belarus. The majority are from Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. The Belarusian authorities maintain that they won\u2019t \u201cpush anyone out by force.\u201d Dictator Alexander Lukashenko (Alyaksandr Lukashenka) suggested that Germany organize an evacuation corridor for some 2,000 people. Berlin rejected this proposal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Minsk, asylum seekers trying to get to the EU typically gather outside of the Galleria shopping center in the city center. Signs have been hung on the mall doors that say: \u201cEntry with tourist backpacks is prohibited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those who want to warm up or buy food inside leave their belongings in underground passages nearby or along the walls of the shopping center itself \u2014 prompting security guards to come out and demand that their bags be removed. Others just toss their backpacks on the ground.<\/p>\n

Asylum seekers who have run out of money sleep in the underground passages; those who can still afford to stay in hostels. Meanwhile, migrants with both money and valid Belarusian visas are able to rent rooms in hotels.<\/p>\n

None of these people have a clear understanding of what to do next. Some of the asylum seekers Meduza spoke to say they\u2019ve already decided to return home. Others still hold out hope that the European Union will open its borders.<\/p>\n

\u2018We walked 200 kilometers along the border\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The majority of migrants stranded in Minsk simply refuse to speak to journalists. \u201cIraq,\u201d one man says irritably, when asked why he doesn\u2019t want to talk to the press.<\/p>\n

Another asylum seeker, a 26-year-old man originally from Iraqi Kurdistan, explains that if he\u2019s forced to return to his homeland, there \u201ccould be problems\u201d for him because he spoke to journalists.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old arrived in Belarus two weeks ago, along with a group of his friends. They spent several days in the forests outside of the western cities of Grodno and Brest; the six of them slept in one tent. Belarusian soldiers wouldn\u2019t let them get to the border \u2014 instead, border guards seized their SIM cards and power banks, and then put them on a bus that took them back to the woods.<\/p>\n

Local residents helped the group return to Minsk. In one village near Brest they gave the asylum seekers clothes, in another they gave them food. \u201cSome Belarusian guy\u201d gave them advice on how to get back to the capital.<\/p>\n

Iraqi asylum seekers stuck in Mink explain that they decided to try and get to the EU through Belarus because of the situation in their home country \u2014 because of a lack of jobs, corruption, \u201cworthless education,\u201d and the fact that Iraqis \u201chave no rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Iraq there\u2019s nothing to do after finishing school. I\u2019m 26 years old, and I have no job, no money, not a dollar,\u201d one asylum seeker tells Meduza when asked why he left.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To get to Belarus, the 26-year-old had to borrow money from his brothers and friends. The travel agencies that help migrants get to Minsk charge several thousand dollars for their services: securing Belarusian visas, and booking plane tickets and hotels. The Iraqi tourism companies that help migrants gain entry into Belarus promise their clients that Belarusian border guards will help them cross into the European Union. But upon arrival at the border with Poland, asylum seekers find out this isn\u2019t the case.<\/p>\n

Now, stranded migrants are camping out in Minsk: \u201cThere\u2019s so many underground passages here. Let\u2019s go and sleep in there.\u201d They don\u2019t know what to do next. \u201cWe hope that Poland will open its borders,\u201d one of them says.<\/p>\n

Another Kurdish migrant who agreed to talk to Meduza says he has already been in Belarus for more than a month. He\u2019s made several unsuccessful attempts at crossing the border with Poland. Nevertheless, he hasn\u2019t fallen into despair.\u201cThe Belarusian police are very nice\u2014 each day they gave us food and water for the children. And it\u2019s very beautiful in Belarus!\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

This man is currently living in a hostel, which costs him $120 a night. He tells Meduza he\u2019ll try to get to Germany one last time \u2014 if it doesn\u2019t work out, he\u2019ll return to Iraq. \u201cBut life in Iraq is very hard. I didn\u2019t have a life in Iraq,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

\"Migrants