PARIS, August 25. /TASS/. Poland and Latvia must provide the refugees from the Middle East, stuck at the Belarusian border, with clothes and accommodation, says a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), published Wednesday.

"ECHR ruled to satisfy the request for provisional measure within the ‘Amiri et alii v. Poland’ and ‘Ahmed et alii v. Latvia’ cases regarding the events at Polish and Latvian borders with Belarus. The measure will remain in effect for three weeks, until September 15," the ruling says.

Although Belarus has certain international obligations regarding the border regime, Latvia and Poland must provide the plaintiffs with food, water, clothes, medical aid and, if possible, provide a temporary accommodation, the court ruled.

"It should be noted that this should not be viewed as a demand for Poland and Latvia to simply allow the plaintiffs to its territory," the agency underscored.

The plaintiffs - 32 Afghan citizens and 41 Iraqi Kurds - claim that they initially sought to enter the two European countries to obtain international protection, but they were denied it. Meanwhile, they cannot return to Belarus, which, as the Court notes, is not a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights.

The refugees point to the violation of Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention about the right for life and prohibition of torture, as well as Article 4 to the Protocol IV to the Convention, which prohibits collective extradition of foreigners. The plaintiffs also claim violation of their rights for freedom and security of person, for just court trial, for respect of private and family life and for efficient legal protection, as stipulated by Articles 5,6,8 and 13 of the Convention. They ask for legal support, improvement of their material conditions and non-repatriation to Belarus.

Over 4,000 illegal migrant have been apprehended at the Lithuanian-Belarusian border, which is almost 50 times more than during the entirety of 2020. After Lithuanian border control took strict protection measures, the migrants started infiltrating Poland and Latvia.

Between 20 and 30 migrants have been roaming at the Polish-Belarusian border under protection of law enforcement for 15 days already. They are currently being guarded by Belarusian law enforcement preventing them from entering Belarus and by Polish law enforcement preventing them from entering Poland.

Poland and Lithuania contacted the EU asking to take stricter measures against Belarus over the allegedly provoked migrant crisis in the region.

In late May, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated that his country served as a barrier for illegal migrants to Europe, but, considering the Western political pressure, Minsk might reconsider whether it is worth the trouble.