Since June 2021, thousands of migrants – mainly from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, but also Congo, Cameroon and other countries - have been trying to reach European Union member states via Belarus. They were trying to cross the border to Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. These countries have declared a state of emergency along the border areas in an effort to reduce the number of irregular crossings. Poland's parliament passed legislation allowing for migrants to be pushed back at the border.

There have been numerous instances of Polish border guards forcibly returning migrants and refugees to Belarus, in disregard of their intentions to request international protection and in breach of their rights. Fear of such ‘pushbacks’ and violence at the hands of border guards has led women, men and children to try and make their way through the area without being detected, hiding in the forests in extreme winter temperatures without food, water, shelter or warm clothes. NGOs trying to assist migrants are reporting many cases of hypothermia.


In October 2021, close to the Polish border with Belarus, the MSF team witnessed first-hand the hardships and suffering people on the move were going through and spoke to migrants about their experiences. There a family of 13 Iraqi Kurds including 4 children asked for asylum in Poland. The family was pushed back by the Polish border guards and military to the Belarusian border.