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UN concerned over condition of migrants at Belarusian-Polish border

There are concerns about this, the conditions on the ground and the treatment of the refugees as migrants as we would say, on the ground, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Farhan Haq said

UNITED NATIONS, November 16. /TASS/. The United Nations is concerned over the conditions and the treatment of migrants at the Belarusian-Polish border, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Farhan Haq said on Tuesday.

"There are concerns about this, the conditions on the ground and the treatment of the refugees as migrants as we would say, on the ground," he said. "Ultimately, what we've been arguing for is the right of all of those who are there to be treated with dignity."

"We don't want these people to be instrumentalized and used as pawns in disputes involving the countries," he stressed.

When asked to comment on reports about the use of water cannons by the Polish side, he said he has no confirmation of these reports.

The migration crisis at Belarus’ border with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia deteriorated dramatically on November 8, when several thousand migrants approached the Polish border and set up camp there. From time to time they try to break through the fences and cross into Poland, but are stopped by Polish law enforcers.

EU countries accuse Minsk of deliberate escalation of the crisis and call for more sanctions against Belarus. Meanwhile, Lukashenko said that the blame for this situation rests on Western countries because people are fleeing their countries gripped by hostilities provoked by their actions.