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South Asia State of Minorities Report 2021 - Hate speech against minorities

Press Briefing – Launch: Report on the Humanitarian Crisis on the Polish-Belarusian Border

9 December 2021 • 11:00 am – 12:30 pm CET
Online

Minority Rights Group International supports ‘Grupa Granica‘, a collective of 14 Polish NGOs and activists working since August on the Polish-Belarusian border, with the launch of their new report.

This Press Briefing is organized for the media about the recent situation at the border. Grupa Granica has prepared the summary of the work that has been done on the border since August 2021. The report includes:

  • Analyses and interpretations of the data shared by Polish border guards
  • Data gathered by Grupa Granica activists
  • Timeline of the unfolding humanitarian crisis
  • Case studies
  • The consequences of introducing emergency state in Poland
  • Lessons for the future

Since the beginning of the crisis, Grupa Granica has been in contact with more than 5,000 migrants and refugees at the border.

Dunja Mijatović, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, spent four days in Poland and went to the field with Grupa Granica. ‘The greatest strength of the aid movement for migrants and refugees from the Polish-Belarusian border are the inhabitants of the neighbouring towns – in the zone of emergency and next to it. It is their compassion and empathy that prolongs the life of people in the forest. Their courage and selflessness. Their good saves lives’, she said.

Speakers

  • Authors of the report
  • Local citizens living close to the border
  • Refugees and migrants that have made it through the border
  • Joshua Castellino, Executive Director, Minority Rights Group International

Moderation: Anna Alboth, Media Officer, Minority Rights Group Europe.

Photo: A migrant stranded in the forest at the Polish-Belarusian border. Credit: Anna Maria Biniecka.