This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Feb 24, 2020 | History, Society A march in memory of the “cursed soldiers” – Polish partisans who resisted the introduction of communism but some of whom were involved in war crimes against ethnic minorities – yesterday passed through the streets of Hajnówka for the fifth time has become an unwanted annual tradition for a town in eastern Poland that is inhabited by a large Belarusian minority a small town on the edge of the Białowieża Forest Roads leading into the city are blocked by the police Drivers are asked if they are going to the March of Remembrance of the Cursed Soldiers The march is organised by Polish nationalist groups Their aim is to honour the soldiers of the Polish armed underground movement who fought against the imposition of communism in Poland and were persecuted by the communist authorities The extraordinary police measures and tangible tension in the town stem from the fact that among the soldiers honoured at the march are those responsible for crimes against the Belarusian civilian population living around Hajnówka The main historical figure of the march is Romuald Rajs whose unit murdered 79 people (among them women The reason for Bury’s raids on Belarusian villages was the local people’s alleged cooperation with communists The march was first organised in Hajnówka in 2016, at a time when the nationalist movement and its ideas were on the rise and following the election of the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party. Among the organisers are the same far-right groups, such as the National Radical Camp (ONR), that are behind the controversial annual Independence Day march in Warsaw The first march was initially advertised as being under the official patronage of the president the president’s office announced that it was refusing to lend its name to the event the annual arrival of the nationalist marchers is an unwanted provocation For the Belarusian minority in surrounding Podlasie region To hear Bury’s deeds loudly praised in the streets hurts the feelings of many locals many of those opposed to the march gathered at an Orthodox church service from where they passed to the Monument to the Victims of War and Repressions The organisers emphasised that the gathering is an independent initiative the youth of Hajnówka read the names of the victims of Bury’s soldiers The audience listened in silence: a 62-year-old murdered in the woods; a 24-year-old with wounds to the head; others buried in a mass grave Those gathered then lit candles at the monument in memory of the victims The commemoration was the initiative of an informal group of locals calling themselves “Nasza Pamiać” (“Our Memory” in Belarusian) “We came up with the idea of this commemoration because of our children We talked about our children who felt offended by the nationalist march and expressed the will to do something to oppose it And we realised that we cannot be violent in any way We were not interested in politics; we were just concerned about the values we are raising our children with So we decided on a peaceful commemoration of the victims Because everybody discusses the perpetrator People standing in the crowd could not hide their emotions Two older gentlemen were encouraged by the fact that so many young people had come to honour the victims “Let them remember that such bestiality took place here” “But there are a lot of young people on the march too” added an old lady listening in on the conversation Indeed, also in the audience is a group of four men with a rolled-up Polish flag. They look on from the side. When Robert Biedroń, a left-wing presidential candidate who is gay once there was the Żydokomuna (Judeo-communism) “I very much appreciate the actions of Romuald ‘Bury’ Rajs,” one participant in the march He arrived this morning from the city of Białystok “Bury was one of the greatest Polish heroes of the postwar period fought people collaborating with communists Asked if civilians killed in 1946 were traitors to the Polish nation Bielawski and his friends argue that civilians died only because they did not obey the orders of Bury’s soldiers Because this property served traitors to the Polish nation but this was war and people die in war,” explains Andrzej Jędrzejewski I don’t understand the [attitude of the] local people it caused the deaths of millions of people That time you had a simple choice: to stand with the enemy or to stand with the fatherland But the picture is not as simple as it may seem to those who praise Bury An investigation conducted in 2005 by the Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) a state body responsible for investigating historical crimes concluded that Bury’s actions against Belarusian and Orthodox people in the Hajnówka region “bear the hallmarks of genocide” and therefore “cannot be identified with the struggle for [Polish] independence” they “helped the communist apparatus of power” by harming the prestige of the underground resistance and providing material for communist propaganda now under the influence of PiS and an integral part of its “historical policy” Referring to a more recent article by two historians it now claims that Bury’s deeds cannot be regarded as genocide since if he had wanted to set more Belarusian villages on fire nobody denies the fact that Bury’s unit killed Belarusian civilians The nationalist march began after Mass at a Catholic church Small groups of locals watched the preparations and the march itself from across the road among the slogans on display were: “Death to the enemies of the fatherland” as well as some more unusual messages like “Underground soldiers fought for democracy and the free market in Poland” The organisers of the march had made bold claims when announcing the event declaring that they were coming to Hajnówka a town that was “administratively” but not “mentally” part of Poland in order to “overthrow the last bastion of communism in Poland” Yet the reality was rather more underwhelming Locals say that the numbers are decreasing from year to year the march should not be disregarded as something harmless an anthropologist from the Polish Academic of Sciences who attended the event She noted that after the nationalist procession a group of historical reenactors dressed as Bury’s unit held their own march it is a symbolic reenactment of an ethnic purge,” says Engelking While the march did not attract any prominent right-wing politicians it did draw the attention of members of the opposition and an MP from the centrist Civic Platform lit candles at the monument to war victims Organisers from Nasza Pamiać explain that they do not invite politicians but they also cannot forbid anybody from taking part “At least they follow our rules,” says Moroz-Keczyńska “They do not get to speak here and they are not honoured in any other way But it is not hard to see that local people mistrust outsiders who turn up to oppose the march – rather than commemorate the victims – almost as much as they do the nationalists in the procession itself the nationalists were confronted with activists from two movements – Citizens of the Republic (Obywatele RP) and the Committee for the Defence of Democracy (KOD) – involved in activism against PiS and the far right These people mostly came from Warsaw to block a march they regard as fascist They were also here last year and the year before that A tall man called out to them: “What do you come here for? Until the first March of Remembrance of the Cursed Soldiers Hajnówka was a place that believed it had managed to come to terms with a painful history and maintain peaceful cohabitation of Poles and Belarusians That peace was shattered by people seen as intruders who was behind previous efforts to ban the march The city council appealed to residents to ignore the march Locals feel that the situation has taken them hostage What people here would like most of all would be for none of this to be happening Credit for all images: Paulina and Wojciech Siegień , , , , , Apr 30, 2025 | , , , That response will include “large Polish and NATO exercises in Poland” Apr 29, 2025 | , , , Those employed in Poland work on average the third-longest hours in the European Union Apr 28, 2025 | , , , , Westinghouse and Bechtel were first chosen in 2022 as partners on the 192 billion zloty ($51 billion) project please consider helping us to continue and expand it [email protected] Copyright © 2025 Notes From Poland | Design jurko studio | Code by 2sides.pl Senior Research Fellow at the Global Europe Centre ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Weronika Strzyżyńska is currently studying journalism at Goldsmiths as a Scott Trust Bursary recipient She  has written on issues immigration and Brexit for New Statesman and Prospect Agnieszka Wądołowska is managing editor of Notes from Poland She has previously worked for Gazeta.pl and Tokfm.pl and contributed to Gazeta Wyborcza ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland and assistant professor of history at the Pedagogical University of Krakow He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications The Independent and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Stanley Bill is the founder and editor-at-large of Notes from Poland.He is also Senior Lecturer in Polish Studies and Director of the Polish Studies Programme at the University of Cambridge Stanley has spent more than ten years living in Poland He founded Notes from Poland in 2014 as a blog dedicated to personal impressions cultural analysis and political commentary He is committed to the promotion of deeper knowledge and understanding of Poland He is the Chair of the Board of the Notes from Poland Foundation ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Professor of European Studies at Oxford University ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Professor at the Institute of History of the Jagiellonian University ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Executive Director of Taube Family Foundation ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Associate Professor at the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Science ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Urszula Glensk is a professor of documentary literature and literary criticism at the University of Wrocław’s Institute of Journalism and Social Communication cozy kitchen in a house on a peaceful street lined with pre-war wooden buildings in the Polish town of Hajnówka calmly relays to me what she saw in the forest — and then she gets a hold of herself and says: “Don’t think we’re a bunch of crybabies from the woods We really are coping here; we’re collecting things and the Polish state offers no help apart from bringing in more troops rounding them up and carting them back to no-man’s-land then leave them in the darkness and cold?” The border here is dominated by a forest that stretches into both Poland and Belarus. Sparsely populated and a natural reserve, this primeval wood is now also the site of growing geopolitical and humanitarian crisis — a trap in which thousands of refugees from Iraq but they were lured here by Belarusian travel bureaus aided and controlled by the government of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko organizing migrant trips from the Middle East The migrant’s journey begins with a flight to Minsk; airport photographs show groups of these passengers in shorts and T-shirts The next step is to set them up in state hotels managed by the regime they are transported to the forest at the border between Belarus and Poland There, “border guards violently shove them past the border fence. Some migrants we saw had their faces sliced with barbed wire,” says Anna K. “We have amateur films showing how the Belarusians drive the migrants forward The border guards stand there with snarling attack dogs in full battle gear.” the migrants then press on through the forest “It’s indescribable what’s happening,” says one local inhabitant and charity worker Those people are going to have trauma for the rest of their lives if they manage to survive and the evenings are dreadful — dark and cold the temperature cold drop to minus 20 degrees Celsius in Poland the migrants are tracked by border guards There are now so many armed forces in the Hajnówka region that practically every other car on the road belongs to law enforcement cart them away and push them back into Belarus To do this, they are using a pushback procedure that was “legalized” by a minister’s ordinance, followed by legislation passed in mid-October A series of amendments to the law have since been introduced but these changes involve breaking both the Polish constitution and a whole range of international conventions The “legality” of this act is “legality only within the scope of this act Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s government has set up an information blockade barring journalists’ access to the 3-kilometer strip of land by the border The area has been cut off from the rest of Poland and a state of emergency has been declared It is entirely off-limits to anyone who is not living there registered as a resident or has obtained a special pass we can’t hand over aid packages ourselves,” says a Polish Red Cross worker from the border area a lawyer who started the Green Light project an initiative that organizes people to put green lights in their windows to signal homes where refugees can discreetly find help and not be handed over to the police All information concerning the situation on the border is currently controlled by the government which has been employing techniques of manipulation and propaganda Endlessly pumping out a few familiar images the government has portrayed Lukashenko’s regime as a destabilizing agent that is solely responsible for this catastrophe It has also glorified the efficiency of the Polish state border guards and Territorial Defense Force The images it offers show either armed officers standing in front of barbed wire strung along the border or nocturnal thermal images of drone footage the refugees are dehumanized and society grows accustomed to the government breaking the law and principles of ethics,” says Grzegorz Gauden At present, there are 17,000 officers guarding the Polish side of the border and they are tracking down refugees who come near human settlements Polish forces are also staging ambushes in the forest says: “The suffering and terror here can only remind you of wartime We are witnessing scenes like out of a war People comment on the refugees’ situation by asking The local community is among the poorest in Poland The average inhabitant of Dubicze is 65 years old The local inhabitants practically do not leave their homes Residents here mainly watch government-supported television as the slow signal of independent television is too weak “Half of the local residents have an aversion to the refugees because they are manipulated by the hatred towards migrants from the Middle East in the public television and Radio Maryja propaganda and they have no access to other media,” says a local social worker The local community is convinced that if they see a refugee The person who told me this was unable to say if she had heard the information from an official source A farmer from the Hajnówka region says of the refugees: “I’m seventy years old they pulled them from an empty hut and sprayed them with gas They’re torturing those poor people.” When asked why the border guard puts up no resistance In the zone just outside the state of emergency joint police and border guard patrols are set up every dozen or so kilometers along the roads and it is hard to imagine otherwise with such a tight network of checks they are taken back to the Belarusian border and pushed across No requests for asylum or pleas of starvation are any good Border guard cars also drive through vacated villages then turn into the forest to drive to the frontier — not at the official crossing Barbed wire is often found in these regions as razor fences were stretched out practically all across the Polish side in mid-August then a cleared strip of land stretches for 10 or more meters leading up to red and green poles on the Belarusian side The migrants are pushed through in places where the razor fences have yet to be installed They are pushed into that 10-meter strip of land between the lines When asked where people are taken in the forest Polish border guards curtly respond that they are left at the Belarusian border They are officially prohibited from saying anything more encountering Belarusian border guards could mean being beaten They are sometimes robbed of their mobile phones and the icy nights mean they are sentenced to die of cold and starvation The state of these refugees is desperate — I have seen it with my own eyes A group of them were eventually spotted because a young boy was moving his hand and the rhythmic movement was noticed between the trees This is the way we found a group of Iraqi Kurds including two children — an eight-month-old girl and a two-year-old boy — near the village of G They were afraid to get up off the ground and begged us not to call the police even though one woman’s face was covered in bruises One man’s jacket was strangely torn around his shoulders a volunteer and resident from the village of N The migrants from Iraq told us their story: In October they were “pushed back” to the border by Polish guards guarded on either side by Belarusians and Poles They finally managed to escape by paying off a guard they could not move and received nothing to eat or drink Asking the guards for milk for the baby was in vain In an interview given two hours after the group was found in the forest born in 1993 and the mother of two children and the Polish guard caught us and we [were pushed back] to the border my brother went to the Polish soldiers and asked for some “have been taken to the border a dozen times They have been wandering back-and-forth for a month and a half I ask every refugee I meet if they have been ‘pushed back.’ Only one person has avoided this procedure because they managed to escape The people on the border will have no help throughout the winter.” The volunteers are operating in an area that isn’t covered by the state of emergency and are trying to help those in the forest They say that the refugees are freezing; they are succumbing to hypothermia and are shaking from fear and cold The children are having reactions similar to epilepsy attacks Asked why they couldn’t set up camp in the wilderness and put up tents one volunteer worker responds that this would make it easier for them to be tracked and caught by border patrols or you might have some officers tailing you,” she adds there is a boy from Somalia who watched his two brothers freeze to death No newspaper has written about him because he’s in bad shape She also tells the story of a 32-year-old lawyer from Egypt: “Ibrahim flew to Moscow and he was supposed to have a plane from there to Brussels Ibrahim drank water from the river and ate dates He went six days without warmth or normal food but they were nabbed and carted off to the strip of no-man’s-land.” The refugees reach the hospital in a state of extreme exhaustion are operating in the open area — but they are not allowed in the off-limits zone “We need passes to the zone.” But this is impossible Volunteer doctors are currently helping the refugees in the forest they cannot take them to the hospital themselves they hand the patient over to a state ambulance the ambulance used by Medics on the Border shows up twenty minutes after receiving the call from the group from Iraq the doctors explain as much as possible to avoid increasing fear bruised woman is immediately hooked up to a drip says that today they did an ultrasound of a woman who is eight months pregnant The volunteers say that when they tried to call a public ambulance through the emergency number The Podlachia emergency services will not confirm this information and state that they bring help to anyone “whose life is in danger.” Those who make it to the hospital in Hajnówka do receive professional and dedicated medical care Yet the hospital is rigorously guarded by border guards and as soon as someone’s health is restored the guards take them back to the border and leave them in the forest The medical personnel’s efforts to protect the patients are in vain and the officers unconditionally prohibit hospital workers from giving interviews to the media a volunteer comes around right after Medics on the Border several others from the Polish Border Group come to assist It is impressive how they have managed to organize themselves in the course of just three months They brought all the gear needed for warmth clothes and food — all properly marked and organized The Border Group also brings the documents needed to apply for asylum and it is legally prepared to conduct this process and the chances of being accepted are slim The government is fiercely determined to send them back to the border There is a greater chance of asylum procedures working when the media is there — television cameras in particular They were then taken to a border guard station there was internal information that they were in danger of being deported to the border volunteers and those who were legally conducting their asylum application appeared at the station but they were able spend one night in a warm space — under arrest If a bureaucrat in Warsaw rejects their plea for asylum this seven-person group of migrants will be sent back to the border including the two children — the eleven-month-old Zheela Ashti and two-year-old Siraj Ashti — where they will be subject to the pushback procedure They will be carted off to a place where they will have no water nor any shelter from the freezing cold or rain a wooden building in Narewka grabs my attention enlarged photographs of Jews who lived there until the Holocaust the photographs show them in their normal lives posing for the photographer in their best clothes: an elderly couple hugging a girl in a polka-dot dress with bows in her hair a dainty young girl is holding the purse of a grown-up woman and smiling hesitantly On the side of the building is one that shows black figures walking down the main street of the town I am finally yanked out of my daze by an all-terrain vehicle rumbling by Refugees are being transported — the border guard station is just 400 meters from the house I am quite unable to fathom the course of this history Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Asylum seekers are pawns in a conflict between Poland and Belarus On the outskirts of the Białowieża forest – which bestrides the border between south-east Poland and Belarus – a group of seven Iraqi Kurds make their weary way towards the Polish hamlet of Grodzisk The latest miles of their journey have been from Belarus – crossing back and forth twice deported after their first and second attempts Now a third time: through sub-zero temperatures across the primeval forest’s marshy terrain Among them are two children: an eight-month-old girl and a two-year-old boy they were afraid to get up off the ground and begged us not to call the police though one woman’s face was covered in bruises This is one group among the thousands of migrants trapped in a perilous purgatorial terrain between Belarus and Poland Poland’s rightwing government has secured parliamentary authority to build a Donald Trump-style wall the length of its frontier with Belarus and meanwhile patrols the territory with a force of some 17,000 border police reinforced by military personnel The migrants are part not only of the exodus in flight from war and other tribulation where they began their journeys – across the Middle East and Africa – but also pawns in a game between Belarus and Poland Many are lured by Belarusian travel bureaux controlled by the authoritarian government of Alexander Lukashenko organise trips from the Middle East to Minsk It is the scene of intense recent intra-Kurdish fighting and Turkish strikes against the Kurdish PKK organisation said that the group was lured to Belarus by a travel agency that would arrange travel by plane from Istanbul to Minsk Migrants are charged €15,000-€20,000 when they reach Belarus Airport photos show their arrival wearing shorts and T-shirts clearly unaware of the temperatures awaiting them They are then installed in state hotels managed by the regime from which officially assigned buses and even taxis transfer them to the Polish or Lithuanian border Belarusian border guards then shove them past the fence. “Some migrants we saw had their faces sliced with barbed wire,” says volunteer aid worker Katarzyna Wappa. “We have amateur films showing how the Belarusians drive the migrants forward Abdelkader says her group had made their first crossing into Poland in early October “The Polish guards caught us and pushed us back They said: ‘Go back to Belarus.’ And the Belarusian soldier said: ‘No no go back to Poland.’ When the water was all finished my brother asked Polish soldiers for some water to drink no.’” The guards refused to supply milk for the baby The migrants drank rainwater or from puddles Whether they have since been successful is unclear Back home in the nearest town of Hajnówka, Wappa says: “We are creating a network, trying to do what we can, but it’s too much to bear. People are dying in the forest and the Polish state offers no help apart from bringing in more troops, rounding them up, and deporting them back to no man’s land. And if we reach those people, what can we give them? A flask of tea, some warm clothes, then leave them in the darkness and cold?” In the forest last week, volunteers found Mustafa, a 46-year-old man from Morocco, taken in by a volunteer named Mila. Speaking Spanish, Mustafa told us: “As I made my way through the forest, I saw a man lying on the ground. I don’t know if he was alive or dead. I walked two nights until I could go no further. I was walking at night, trying to sleep during the day. I was in a vacuum. “Belarusian soldiers beat people,” he continued. “They beat me in Belarus. There are gangs that stand behind the army and attack us. They beat you, take your money, and split it 50-50, part for the gangs, part for soldiers. This border is like a river of death. What are you to do? Where to go, I do not know.” Mustafa’s fate remains in the balance. Once on the Polish side, migrants are tracked down by border guards, police, army, and territorial defence forces; in the Hajnówka region, practically every second car on the road belongs to law enforcement officers. Others have darkened windows – either protecting or smuggling the migrants. “We’re in a parcelled-off, isolated world,” adds Kamil Syller, initiator of the Green Light project, which aims to put green lights in windows to signify homes where refugees can find help, discreetly, and not be handed over to the police. At the Mantiuk Hospital in Hajnówka, a boy from Somalia tells how he watched his two brothers freeze to death. “It’s impossible to say where it happened,” he says. “Apparently he’s losing contact with reality,” say the doctors. “He often asks: ‘But where am I?’” The refugees who reach the hospital receive professional medical care, yet the hospital is patrolled by border guards, and as soon as someone’s health is restored, guards take them back to the border and leave them in the forest. Medics on the Border, a group of doctors with an ambulance, operates in the “open” areas, but are not allowed in the off-limits zone. Asked how they can be of help, they say: “We need passes to the zone,” says Jakub Sieczko, a paramedic. “But this is impossible.” “We have no access to the off-limits zone,” says a Polish Red Cross workerfrom the border area. “We can’t hand over aid packages ourselves.” Read moreSyller says that the refugees are freezing succumbing to hypothermia and shaking from fear and cold “The children are having reactions similar to epileptic attacks The suffering and terror here can only remind you of wartime,” he explains Wappa feels that she is “witnessing scenes like out of a war because here half the society denies what’s going on People say of the refugees: ‘Why did they even leave home and why take their children?’” This land is steeped in dark history of flight and deportation And there are few reminders so cogent as in the village of Narewka where a row of houses from before the second world war is adorned with enlarged photographs of the Jewish residents who lived here until the Holocaust The pictures show people posing in their finest clothes: an elderly couple past those houses in memoriam for Jews deported from here This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025 The Observer is now owned and operated by Tortoise Media You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed We are a global communion of churches in the Lutheran tradition country programs and partner organizations to promote justice reconciliation and dignity for individuals and communities LWF membership represents over 78 million Christians in the Lutheran tradition in 99 countries across the globe as well as ten recognized churches and congregations We strive to put our faith into action within and beyond the communion and seek God’s Word and Spirit to guide us Your partnership truly makes a difference.Together a better world is possible.With Passion for the Church and for the World Supplies ready for distribution to the hospital and detention center at the border of Poland and Belarus where thousands of migrants are stranded the diaconal arm of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland (ECACP) continues to deliver aid packages and support refugees and migrants at the border between Poland and Belarus Unable to enter Poland or return to their countries of origins they have remained stuck between the countries with little sustenance and exposed to a cold winter Media have reported that at least 19 died due to the harsh conditions since the crisis began late last year “We want to fulfil the mission of the Diaconia Poland as expressed in the words of Jesus: ‘Truly I tell you whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine you did for me,’ (Matthew 25,40) and to testify that diaconia is an encounter with another person it is the practical implementation of the Gospel,” said Wanda Falk In October, the Synod of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland (ECACP) issued a statement pledging to “care for the weakest and to stand up for those who have no voice migrants and refugees have a particular place in the Biblical message.” Falling temperatures threaten the health and safety of refugees at the Polish-Belarusian border Baby clothes were collected for the displaced families The plea to support and care for the people at the Polish-Belarusian border also came from the Mayor of Warsaw Diaconia Poland launched an appeal in October for water food and art materials for children to be taken to the Polish border hospitals and detention centers "We cannot remain indifferent to the fate of those who wish to start a new life far from conflict inequality and social injustice,” ECACP Bishop Jerzy Samiec and Bishop Ryszard Bogusz wrote in the call for support There was good response to the appeal from the Polish public organizations and sister churches in Europe and worldwide medics and lawyers have limited access to the 3 km wide zone in Poland along the border with Belarus To ensure a good overview of the situation and provide help to people in need Diaconia Poland collaborates with Lutheran border guard chaplains representatives of the Ombudsman's office in Warsaw Diaconia Poland and ECACP have delivered packages to the Hajnówka hospital which is located 20km from the border The hospital has admitted migrants in need of medical care and sick after days of wandering in the forests Hospital in Hajnówka on the border is overwhelmed The Hajnówka hospital leadership turned to Polish citizens for support and Diaconia Poland and the ECACP responded with donations of personal protective equipment such as masks “This is a very difficult time; it is not only migration but also a pandemic situation It shows that in our everyday life we have basically nothing constant,” said Falk “Some migrants were eventually moved to overcrowded detention centers in Białystok and Czerwony Bór where there is also a lack of basic provisions such as clothing footwear and educational materials for children,” Falk added Diaconia Poland and EACAP also distributed aid to the detention centers in collaboration with border guard chaplains and the government Ombudsman’s office which handles civic concerns and investigations Supplies ready for distribution to the hospital and detention center “Our call as Christians is to make the world a better place to hope for a better tomorrow and work to change the situation of those in need,” Falk said By LWF/A.Gray and ECACP/A.Godfrejów-Tarnogórska Chemin du Pavillon 2,1218 Le Grand Saconnex [email protected]+41 (0)22 791 60 00 As thousands attempt to cross the Belarus-Poland border seeking asylum in Europe the blue lights of police vans flash on the walls of his hiding place dozens of border guards are searching for people like him in the snowstorm the owner of the house sits in silence with his terrified wife and children Read moreAs people fleeing conflict or starvation have become trapped on the Poland-Belarus border in the middle of a freezing winter Polish families have been secretly hiding hundreds of desperate people in their homes Fears of the knock at the door as border police launch a manhunt bring back terrible echoes of the second world war when thousands of Polish Jews were given refuge by their neighbours during the Nazi occupation A young Iraqi Kurd hiding in a small attic in the woods near Narewka as dozens of border guards search for him and his travel companions.“Let’s make one thing clear this is far from being the Holocaust,” says a Polish woman who has sheltered a Syrian family in her home for five days “At the same time … when you have six people hiding in your attic forced to stay in the dark to avoid being sent back as a Pole you can’t help thinking of the similarities with that time.” has searched the forests near the border to find people in need of water Jakub follows signs of the presence of people who attempted to cross the frontier: nappies or makeshift huts built with tree branches helped dozens of Jewish families in Warsaw avoid deportation Jakub has hidden and helped at least 200 people who risked being herded back over the border to Belarus “I’ve never compared what I’m doing today to what my uncle did,” Jakub says “I help these people because they need help Read moreIn his room in a small home a few miles from Sokółka has invented a device to locate people at risk of being sent back into Belarus “I opened accounts to connect migrants’ phones,” he says “I set up their accounts on Google and WhatsApp and linked their phones to one of my accounts This way I can see where they have recently logged in and send help.” aided a Syrian family whose oldest child was five They had been pushed back to Belarus 17 times Bartek has invented a device to locate people who have been pushed back into Belarus.“What is happening here is totally unacceptable,” says Ewa whose grandmother smuggled pork fat and potatoes into the Jewish Ghetto during the second world war “My grandmother hid Jewish children in her house too,” she says “The flap in the floor was covered with a bed on which my great-grandmother lay I feel like I am carrying on my grandmother’s work.” Ewa has bought thermal cameras to locate people at night “Next year when you go to the forest to pick mushrooms you don’t know whether you will find mushrooms or dead bodies Some people said they found bodies of refugees torn apart by animals sometimes you can smell an intense smell of decay.” At least 19 people have died since the beginning of the border standoff between Poland and Belarus Some of their bodies were buried in the Muslim graveyard in the village of Bohoniki in the heart of the forest that claimed their lives A Muslim graveyard in the village of Bohoniki, near Sokółka, where some asylum seekers have been buriedAs temperatures dip near freezing, Bartek, Jakub and Ewa belong to a network of Poles who are working desperately to prevent more deaths. “We’re doing something normal to help others,” says Ewa, “but they make you out to be a criminal.” Since Poland imposed a state of emergency, all help for the people in the woods is on the shoulders of local residents and activists. In recent weeks more and more aid workers and citizens have been stopped by police forces, who have searched at least three homes looking for migrants. Read more“The situation seems to have escalated and officers became more violent towards aid workers,” says Witold Klaus, a professor at the University of Warsaw’s Centre for Migration Law Research “This is part of intimidation and is probably calculated for its chilling effect – a discouragement to offer help to immigrants Providing humanitarian assistance is not a crime But this is the law in books and it doesn’t stop authorities from breaking it.” Polish border guards during an operation near the borderOn 14 December a group of activists were stopped by military personnel in the forests near the village of Zabrody They were forced to lie face down on the ground and searched On 15 December Polish armed police forces raided one of the humanitarian aid hubs in the border region of Podlachia “They suspect us of organising illegal border crossings” ‘’But if anybody is creating a space for illegal crossing the border it is Belarusian and Polish authorities who forced freezing and hungry people without any choice to cross the frontier.’’ The Polish ministries of interior and defence did not comment when approached by the Guardian During recent pro-migration protests in Michałów and Hajnówka young activists met elderly people who had sheltered fugitives during the second world war Jakub says: “They said that they had hidden Jews during the war and that they had something in common with us.” was deported to the German concentration camp in Ravensbrück who now lives near the border town of Hajnówka Maria Przyszychowska and her daughter in their home near the border town of HajnówkaShe and her husband have started an unofficial network of local residents and activists who have placed green lights in their windows to show that their home is a temporary safe space for refugees the first people started to show up at their doors The couple welcome them into their home and give them basic necessities “We are trying to protect asylum seekers and now our activity has become a form of resistance,” says Kamil Read moreProhibiting an individual from the right to apply for asylum is an infringement of human rights Despite individuals expressing their intention to apply for asylum arrivals in Poland have been forced back in systematic mass expulsions we’ll be able to talk openly about what the police did to migrants and what we went through to help them,” says Jakub we are what they called us: secret guerrillas.” (*Some names have been changed to protect people’s identities) The District Prosecutor's Office in Hajnówka has filed an indictment in court against five persons who provided humanitarian aid to an Iraqi family and an Egyptian citizen on the Polish-Belarusian border The persons assisting are charged with the offence of facilitating unlawful stay in the Republic of Poland when the aid workers were detained and charged with organising the unlawful crossing of the Polish-Belarusian border the prosecution demanded pre-trial detention but neither the district court nor the regional court agreed the prosecutor's office changed the charges brought against the activists.  One person was accused of providing food and clothing to persons who crossed the Polish-Belarusian border and allegedly provided the foreigners with information useful in case they were detained by Polish law enforcement authorities This person is also accused of providing the foreigners with shelter The other four persons were accused of transporting members of a migrant family "far into the country" when in fact the distance was shorter than twenty kilometres from the border the persons assisting met the statutory definition of the offence under Article 264a § 1 of the Penal Code facilitating unlawful residence in the Republic of Poland The prosecution claims that they acted intending to achieve a personal gain, not for themselves This offence is punishable by imprisonment of up to 5 years It should be noted that Article 264a of the Criminal Code implies that this offence can only be committed with the aim of ‘achieving a financial or personal gain’ without the intention of achieving the purpose of a financial or personal gain It may be a matter of benefit to the person committing the offence or to another person but it is difficult to accept that this other person could be the migrants themselves any provision of assistance to a migrant would constitute a criminal offence and the content of this provision would make no sense In HFHR's opinion providing humanitarian assistance does not constitute a crime Selfless help to people in danger of health or life is a moral obligation and deserves praise even though current criminal law does not criminalise humanitarian aid carried out on the Polish-Belarusian border there are cases of harassment and criminal charges being brought against activists and activists involved in this aid Such actions are taken despite declarations from the authorities that repression of activists must cease.  ‘I found it hard to believe what I was being accused of I didn't think there was such a law that said it was criminal to give food And yet now I am facing a court case and maybe even a sentence for having given people help for wanting to take a family with children out of the forest The Polish state is now prosecuting me for this and I have the impression that we are all the scapegoats here while the state services have already spent many billions on supposedly protecting the border but have failed to break up the smuggling rings and have failed to solve the humanitarian crisis,’ says the accused Podlasie resident.  ‘Our case is part of a broader policy aimed at deterring those who choose to fight for a dignified life through migration and those who provide migrants with humanitarian aid supporting people on the move is criminalised in Poland If we accept that basic assistance to people to whom the Polish and Belarusian states have nothing but violence to offer is being criminalised then we should seriously rethink where we are as a society on the map of political ideologies,’ says one of the accused HFHR and the Szpila Collective provide legal support to those involved in delivering humanitarian aid in the Polish-Belarusian border region The defence counsel for the defendants is lawyer Radosław Baszuk Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights Wiejska 16 Street 00-490 Warsaw Tel: +48 22 556 44 40  (Monday to Friday from 10.00 PM to 2.00 PM) Fax: +48 22 556 44 50 e-mail: hfhr [at] hfhr.pl Privacy policy GDPR the courts ruled in favour of nine humanitarian aid workers Siemiatycze and Białystok acquitted the persons charged by the Border Guard with an offence under Article 54 of the Code of Administrative Offences This provision states that anyone who violates the “peacekeeping measures” rules for behaviour in public places issued as delegated regulations under the Act is to be punished with a fine of up to PLN 500 or a caution The Border Guard has accused those humanitarian aid activists of violating the ban on entering the border strip 7/2021 of the Governor of the Podlaskie Province The accused activists have received the free legal aid offered by the HFHR and the Szpila Collective to all persons harassed by the authorities in connection with the provision of humanitarian aid on the Polish-Belarusian border The accused persons were represented by Jarosław Jagura The courts found that their actions did not constitute an administrative offence which acquitted 3 persons and cancelled a fine argued that the regulation that formed the basis for imposing the fine was issued beyond the limits of statutory authority as the ban extended to the entire section of the border strip which was contrary to the wording of Article 9 (3) of the State Border Protection Act The court found that according to this provision the entry ban could only be imposed on “certain sections of the border strip” the court found that restrictions on rights and freedoms can only be established by a law and that the province governor’s regulation did not fulfil this condition The court ruled that the province governor had exceeded his powers the court emphasised the need to examine whether the peacekeeping measures referred to in Article 54 of the Code of Administrative Offences are constitutional and whether they were issued in accordance with the constitutional principles for the enactment of basic laws The court in Białystok also emphasised that the circumstances of the accused persons’ behaviour are relevant and that they acted in order to save lives.  These judgements are part of a series of judgements stating that the provision of humanitarian aid is perfectly legal and should not be prosecuted “We welcome the positive rulings of the courts but point out that simply trying to hold humanitarian aid workers accountable should not be the case There are other court judgments that show that the Border Guard should not impose penalties on persons who enter the border strip and throw objects across the border with Belarus The Border Guard should change its practice because these legal procedures unnecessarily expose people transporting humanitarian aid to the need to participate in court proceedings in a situation where acquittals are repeatedly handed down in these cases” “Since the beginning of the humanitarian crisis the authorities and their uniformed services have carried out various activities aimed at intimidating discouraging and exhausting people providing humanitarian assistance to people on the move One of these activities is the imposition of fines for minor administrative infractions – which are sometimes unavoidable in order to effectively help people in need hungry and exhausted people trapped on the eastern side of the fence for which the Border Guard issued us fine citations This resulted in many court cases that dragged on for months I am of course glad that the courts have not only refused to confirm our guilt in all the cases that have been resolved so far but have also recognised the flawed nature of the regulations that exposed us to legal consequences it is regrettable that such cases have been pursued at all – unnecessarily consuming the entire judicial apparatus and considerable taxpayers’ resources says Aleksandra Chrzanowska from the Association for Legal Intervention (SIP) and the Border Group (Grupa Granica) I think it's a scandal that it had to come to court at all The criminalisation of humanitarian aid and solidarity with people on the move is part of the inhumane policy of isolating Poland and Europe We must and will defend ourselves against this this is our response to the repression of the state” commented one of the acquitted defendants on the judgment “I have the impression that the whole situation was designed to intimidate us a masked man (in a balaclava) was standing behind our backs had a uniform without insignia and carried a rifle The court costs and the compensation awarded to the acquitted are paid with taxpayers’ money Maybe it’s time for the superiors of the officers who fined us to take responsibility for their orders including financially,” says one of the people whose fine was cancelled The court has acquitted a group of people who were delivering humanitarian aid The Border Guard decided to prosecute these persons for administrative offences - violation of the ban on entering the "border strip" and bringing objects across the border with Belarus The court found that the persons acted in a state of necessity to save the health and lives of people on the other side of the wall and that they could not be punished in any way for this The accused activists were represented by lawyers from the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights a group of activists assisted migrants on the other side of the wall built on the border with Belarus This assistance included the provision of food The Border Guard filed charges against these people accusing them of committing administrative offences namely disregarding the ban on entering the zone adjacent to the state border and the ban on bringing objects across the border with Belarus These prohibitions result from two regulations issued by the Governor of Podlasie.  In July the Provincial Administrative Court in Białystok following a complaint by the Ombudsman annulled the Governor's regulation banning the passing of objects The court in Białystok found that the governor had exceeded his powers by issuing this measure The activists' case was brought before the District Court in Bielsk Podlaski the court handed down its judgment and acquitted the defendants of all charges The court found that the activists' motives were purely humanitarian and related to helping people on the other side of the wall in life- and health-threatening situations The migrants could not count on the help of the Belarusian authorities "The court found that the activists acted out of necessity saving vulnerable people was more important than complying with the prohibitions in the Governor's regulations," says Jarosław Jagura the court stressed that the activists' behaviour was socially useful and testified to their nobility in a situation where the authorities seemed to have ignored the problem and turned a blind eye to it The court pointed out that the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border is a major humanitarian crisis that cannot be disregarded when assessing the actions of the helpers the people bringing humanitarian aid to the Polish-Belarusian border is an important victory in the context of the situation at the border The judgment underlines that we are acting in a purely humanitarian way responding to the threat to the lives and health of people on both sides of the barrier This message is important because the humanitarian crisis continues and people are in extremely difficult conditions every day The court found that we acted in a state of necessity and held that the authorities are blind to the suffering of the people on the move The activists were represented in court by advocate Jarosław Jagura advocate trainee Konrad Siemaszko provides legal assistance to people who are oppressed for helping at the Polish-Belarusian border Migrants who spend days or even weeks in forests and humid border areas without access to water and warm and dry clothes are in immediate and real danger of losing their health and lives Media reports of migrants' bodies being found in border areas are recurrent Since the humanitarian crisis began in August 2021 there have been at least 55 confirmed deaths at the border The poll was carried out among citizens of three municipalities – Białowieża These are the people who come across the problems caused by the bark beetle gradation and the threat caused by trees falling on the roads every day The research conducted by PBS shows that in the previous year (2017) nearly 86% of the respondents visited the Białowieża Forest including 100% of surveyed citizens of the Narewka municipality The comparison with the Polish nation-wide opinion polls shows that only 1% of the respondents admits visiting the Białowieża Forest within the last year and 74% have never been to the Forest Among surveyed citizens of the Białowieża Forest municipalities nearly 96% approves removing dead trees growing along roads and tourist trails in the Białowieża Forest – except the area of national park and reserves A slightly lower number of people (92%) claims that all trees attacked by the bark beetle should be removed within the above mentioned area so that the remaining healthy trees can be protected The poll also included a question about whether to remove trees for the purpose of active nature protection that is about whether to implement the Plan of Protection Tasks for Natura 200 area For 81% of the interviewees such activity is acceptable Over 70% also agreed that trees should be logged in accordance with the Forest Management Plan As many as 75% of the respondents believes that the richness of flora and fauna in the Białowieża Forest should be protected equally with the biological processes involved the statistical distribution of the respondents recognizing only one of the above mentioned elements as important is similar: 10% is in favour of protecting the ongoing processes in the Białowieża Forest and 8% is for the protection of flora and fauna The interviewers asked a question about who should manage the forests of the Białowieża Forest current split of duties between the Białowieża National Park (BNP) and the State Forests should remain unchanged 24% of interviewees believe that this area should be managed exclusively by the State Forests whereas 10% want BNP to be the only administrator of the Forest The poll conducted by the method of direct interview was taken between November and December 2017 The answers were delivered by 300 citizens (above 15 years old) of three municipalities: Białowieża 0:00 Udostępnij na FacebookuUdostępnij na TwitterzeUdostępnij w mailu przeczytasz w 10 minutSkomentujPublikujemy angielską wersję wywiadu który opublikowaliśmy w OKO.press 18 października 2021 roku Tekst przetłumaczyła pro bono nasza czytelniczka „Nie oczekuję niczego w zamian – traktuję to jako możliwość pomocy osobom na granicy” – napisała Nasz tłumaczka dodała od siebie wyjaśnienia w kwadratowych nawiasach dla większego zrozumienia angielskiego czy amerykańskiego czytelnika Bardzo doceniamy włożony wysiłek i dziękujemy w imieniu czytelników The ”Green Light” campaign has simple rules: People who live along the [Poland-Belarus] border (and elsewhere) that are willing to give aid to migrants and refugees crossing the border are asked to put a green light in a window or over their front door who often wander the forests [along the border] for many days are severely chilled from the October cold we know of seven deaths that occurred as a result and of many people suffering from hypothermia or pneumonia that were rescued at the last minute OKO.press discusses the “Green Light” campaign with its founder a lawyer who lives with his family in a village of Werstok in the Podlaskie Voivodeship OKO.press: How did the idea of the “Green light” start Kamil Syller: It came out of helplessness that was swelling in me We know that there are people in the forests that need help so how can we reach them to offer that help There was a certain situation that the media have already reported on in which three Syrians ended up in a hospital in Hajnówka [Hajnówka County who turned out to be the child’s grandmother She set out on the journey alone except for the child that was entrusted to her I became their legal agent: A group of volunteer rescuers contacted me I drove to them and we signed documents designating me as their legal representative I also completed a declaration of the intent to apply for international protection on their behalf It’s a procedure that can be invoked only in certain cases in the case of migrants who are pregnant or have disabilities where the migrants do not have to be physically at a Border Guard station and it is sufficient if they state their intent in writing The Border Guard must then begin the asylum process It’s baffling that the procedure cannot be invoked for children for whom the situation at the border is even worse and the Medics on the Border [a group of medical doctors volunteering at the border] intervened and it was uncertain whether she would survive pneumonia and severe hypothermia The doctors who rescued her told me that she would have died within a few hours This made me realize that all this is unacceptable that we need to get these people out of the forest so that they don’t lose hope [It is unacceptable] That the fear of being thrown out to Belarus is bigger than their will to live turned up near our house in the morning; we live within a mile of the emergency zone The Border Guard was alerted by a neighbor who spotted them He acted in good faith: he believed that the services would provide the refugees with food We tried to get to them before the Border Guard We even asked the Border Guard whether they had found the refugees already to which they responded that they are not looking for anyone at all that they’re just keeping watch on the border a young girl from Syria was taken to a hospital I realized then and there that they [the refugees] relocate mostly at night And light can also be seen as a positive signal About five days ago we lit a green light next to our house [It means:] The refugees will be given aid here And I think that this idea was a step in a good direction there is a group of emphatic people who are socializing together In the past we protested against logging in the Białowieża Forest [the largest remaining part of the primeval forest that once stretched across Europe] I wrote to them about my “Green Light” idea; I was hoping somebody would join in And they have: green lights are being lit in villages around here I know that even people in cities start to put up green lights I’ve been told that by my friends from Warsaw People are also adding green bulbs to their social media avatars What about other people who live around here and I’ve been waiting for them to join as well Today I was informed that the town of Michałowo [Białystok County It was in Michałowo that a warming center has been opened for the refugees That city showed us that one doesn’t need to be scared; they went against the tide and put other administrative units around here to shame my friends wrote to other districts around here I know that the Narewka district started to collect items donated for the refugees The Białowieża district is under pressure now Podlaskie Voivodeship] should join in as well Because their hospital is experiencing significant logistics issues related to the refugees They have problems with laundering the refugees’ clothes on schedule People from our network are in contact with doctors and other employees at the hospital to find out what they need yesterday the Border Guard arrived at the hospital with a mother and her six children The woman had to stay to have an operation while the children had to be transported elsewhere The Border Guard did not have car seats needed for that and we were able to quickly make arrangements for them The hospital doesn’t provide new clothes for its patients so that when somebody is discharged after a few hours the Border Guard instructs the hospital to have them wear the same wet clothes that they arrived in is then driven out to the forest and left at the border We are also trying to bring the local Orthodox church in to help as well Today I’ve visited a catholic priest in Narewka to talk about help for the refugees claiming that they’ve been forbidden by the diocese and saying that I won’t get anything out of him He became rather unpleasant and I had to go I haven’t asked you about this yet: what kind of help can the refugees get in places marked by the green light In some places it may be simply drinkable water; it’s important because the refugees don’t have access to it and often drink water that is unsafe and impure [In yet other places] They may obtain first aid; the migrants often have wounds from climbing through razor wire I’m also aware that some people let the refugees stay overnight but this is beyond the green light movement they can change their clothes and obtain many items needed on their journey bought and delivered here by Przemek Szafrański from TVN Turbo [a Polish TV channel with a focus on automotive programming] We now have insulated rain boots in different sizes The refugees also need shoes: they’ve been on the go for many months and their footwear is torn down It’s the 21st century and there are some people in the forests at the border Activists were often giving away their own shoes Recently I’ve been told by a doctor at the hospital that it’s important for the refugees to be able to brush their teeth These are often well-educated people who are used to maintaining their hygiene at a certain level and the lengthy journey through the forest often dehumanizes them Such a trivial thing like brushing one’s teeth allows them to regain their human dignity we also have toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste I’m making sure that the activists who are helping the refugees are aware of such small but important details The donated items are also being used by entities who are helping the refugees The migrants are not prepared for the journey They think it’s a journey from a taxi on one side of the border to a taxi on the other side which will take them to Germany how are they supposed to know what the green lights mean with international groups managed by refugees that are currently living in Great Britain or Sweden Those who made it are trying to help those that are on their way They write and speak about others as „their people” or “brothers.” The information I posted was met with an instant reaction: already within the first hour I was contacted by a Syrian man from Istanbul I explained to him that we will help anyone in the forest They are aware of what is happening on the Polish-Belarussian border they’re watching the [posted] videos and read about bodies lying in the forest along the border because they think it simply cannot be that bad Maybe it’s because (using words of a young Yezidi woman who wrote to me) “it’s better to die trying to reach safety than to be frightened to death in your own country Helping the refugees can also be difficult When people who have been on the move for a long time are given a warm meal and something to drink One guy from outside the emergency zone brought some items and gave them to the refugees Situations like that completely overwhelm people who want to offer aid Among our group of people helping the refugees there is a psychiatrist and some people have already accepted that help On top of this you are surely a target of right-wing hate There is a lot of dislike towards this kind of aid I get furious when haters criticize all kinds of help or sneer that the green lights will alert the Border Guard who will know where migrants can be caught If such a person saw the refugees that are in hospitals they’d be less willing to write about “young bucks” who came here to “steal and rape.” I would like to stress that there is no legal obligation on us to inform the Border Guard given that they engage in illegal practices [e.g. pushing the refugees back over the Poland-Belarus border] doing so could put the lives of the refugees in danger This whole campaign would not take place if the services acted according to the existing laws The usual process here would be to register a refugee and take them to a place where they can await the decision Only then an eventual deportation could take place For the benefit of those who claim that the refugees should arrive at an official port of entry and apply for asylum there I would also like to remind them that the border crossing points have been largely shut since 2020 There are 26 categories of travelers who may cross there I’m seeing a clash of good and evil here in Podlasie [i.e. Some people help the refugees as much as they can while others report them [to the Border Guard] don’t allow them the access to medical assistance throw out a pregnant woman back over the border like a piece of trash It’s like somebody has cut out a piece of the occupied Poland [during the World War II] and pasted it inside a country where people go to get coffee at Starbucks and watch the new Bond movie in theaters the situation is like during the occupation and those who are reporting the refugees to their pursuers This terrain is known for being home to bison; a herd of about 40 is often seen grazing near our houses They became refugees in the primeval forest Nowadays they can go out onto the grasslands again and nibble on winter crops 16 października 2021 Granica polsko-białoruska Krzysztof Boczek Ślązak, z pierwszego wykształcenia górnik, potem geograf, fotoreporter, szkoleniowiec, a przede wszystkim dziennikarz, od początku piszący o podróżach i rozwoju, a od kilkunastu lat głównie o służbie zdrowia i mediach. Zaczynał w Gazecie Wyborczej w Katowicach, potem autor w kilkudziesięciu tytułach, od lat stały współpracownik PRESS, SENS, Goniec.pl. W tym zawodzie ceni niezależność. Ślązak, z pierwszego wykształcenia górnik, potem geograf, fotoreporter, szkoleniowiec, a przede wszystkim dziennikarz, od początku piszący o podróżach i rozwoju, a od kilkunastu lat głównie o służbie zdrowia i mediach. Zaczynał w Gazecie Wyborczej w Katowicach, potem autor w kilkudziesięciu tytułach, od lat stały współpracownik PRESS, SENS, Goniec.pl. W tym zawodzie ceni niezależność. Edukacja Ekologia Gospodarka Historia Kobiety Kościół Kultura LGBT+ Media Nacjonalizm Nauka NGO Niepełnosprawność Opozycja Policja i służby Polityka społeczna Prawa człowieka Prawa zwierząt Propaganda Protesty Sądownictwo Świat Uchodźcy i migranci Władza Wybory Zdrowie the Białowieża Forest World Heritage Site Steering Committee of considered a motion by the following committee members: the Regional Directorate of the State Forests in Białystok and the Forest Managers of the Białowieża Following a discussion of the current state of the Białowieża primeval Forest as a World Heritage Site the committee is submitting its position to the Minister of Environment so that urgent measures can be taken to slow the further degradation of stands in the forest.The entire Polish part of the Białowieża Forest was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites by a decision of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee adopted during its thirty-eighth session on 23 June 2014 In addition to the Białowieża National Park and Hajnówka Forest Districts form an integral part of this public good lying within the borders of Poland The framework principles for managing it were presented in the documentation sent to the World Heritage Centre It was stated therein that tree cutting and timber harvesting in the area administered by the forest districts will be carried out with the sole aim of protecting valuable natural habitats and species as specified in the planning documents approved for this area.When the Białowieża Forest’s application for re-nomination as a World Heritage Site was being prepared in 2011–2013 the stand degradation – especially that of the spruce stands – was proceeding at a considerable rate It nevertheless seemed possible that it could be controlled within the framework of national law and the solutions for managing this public good that were established and adopted in the application Białowieża Forest World Heritage Site Steering Committee (PDF.) Poland made an undertaking to UNESCO to place the old-growth forest of the Białowieża Forest under special protection The contents of the documents sent to UNESCO in accordance with which all stands over one-hundred years old were formally excluded from commercial use reflect the situation in 2012–2013 and the Forest Management Plan by which the forest districts were bound and the pressing need to take appropriate protective measures compels us to adopt a position that takes into account the processes currently underway in the ecosystems of the Białowieża Forest It is necessary to change the approach to the forests set out in the application sent to the World Heritage Centre This especially concerns “partial protection Zone II” and permitting tree cutting and timber harvesting to ensure public safety and fire security and as an element of the active protection of species and habitats.The pace of degradation of forests containing spruce was exceptionally high in 2014 and 2015 and now covers 30% of the forest complex outside the Białowieża National Park have caused the degradation of the forests – especially those containing the common spruce Picea abies (L.) H.Karst is particularly threatening in the dry-ground habitats of Tilio-Carpinetum which includes trees in the juvenile phases (sapling stands) which has resulted in the mass dieback of spruce and the degradation of stands has been intensifying since 2012 in the Białowieża Forest more than 500 000 common spruce trees have died and stand degradation has occurred across an area of several thousand hectares.It is necessary to take measures to preserve natural values including habitats and species under special protection within the Natura 2000 site The dominance of spruce in dry-ground habitats is the result of distortions brought about by earlier human activity The re-naturalisation of dry-ground stands should be carried out gradually including as a component of measures to restrict spruce bark beetle gradation and alongside the promotion of deciduous species adapted to the habitats The proportion of spruce can also be restricted in stands that are over one-hundred years old.In conditions of pronounced fragmentation and deformation of forest ecosystems widespread and long-term spruce bark beetle gradation which is a factor of change in such ecosystems threatens important natural habitats such as subboreal peat spruce forest or valuable old-growth forest should also be taken into account when planning action in the Białowieża Forest These changes could lead to the loss of some forest habitats which we are bound by EU regulations to protect.The Białowieża Forest UNESCO World Heritage Site was established on the basis of criteria IX and X with which the planned actions do not conflict The preventive measures designed to slow the degradation of the stands comply with the provisions of the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 16 November 1972 the Steering Committee of the World Heritage Site is submitting its position on the need to instigate active protection of this public good in order to avoid further degradation of forest habitats FOREST INSPECTOR                  Grzegorz BieleckiDEPUTY DIRECTORActing Director Aleksander Bolbot List of Participants at a Meeting of the Steering Committee of the Białowieża Forest World Heritage Site 22 March 2016