This archive report was first published on 19 November 2021.
Published on November 19, 2021, the European Union's handling of the Belarus-Poland border crisis has been a stark reminder of its failure to uphold its values of human rights and dignity.
As the crisis unfolded, at least 11 people lost their lives, trapped between heavily armed Polish and Belarusian border guards in freezing conditions with meager food supplies.
The European Union's response was to focus on condemning Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's actions as 'inhuman', but this rhetoric rings hollow when Poland, a member state, forced people back over the border and used tear gas and water cannons against them.
Furthermore, Poland barred journalists, aid workers, and international observers from the border zone, yet the European Union provided full support to the Polish government.
European officials use the language of moral superiority and humanitarianism without backing it up with policies, weakening their authority to call out countries like Belarus and Russia.
It is time for the European Commission to pressure Poland to allow humanitarian access to the border zone and process asylum claims of people on its territory.
By doing so, the EU can take the first step towards a new approach to migration, opening more legal pathways for work visas and refugee resettlement, and developing a functioning asylum system that shares the burden throughout the bloc.
