15.09| time? | Karl Helga

The situation in the Poland-Belarus border is one we do not often hear about. Comrades from Poland who are providing support to deportatees at the border are giving an informative talk to spread the word about the ongoing the situation.

The humanitarian crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border has been ongoing since mid-2021. Since then, more than 23,400 calls for assistance have been received, 11,293 push-backs have been registered and 100 people have been documented to have lost their lives*. At the same time, in January 2025, the trial began of five people who were charged with criminal offences in connection with providing humanitarian aid. At the moment, they face up to five years in prison, but the prosecution is seeking to increase the charges. The verdict in their case is expected to be handed down on 2 September, and this verdict may have serious consequences for the further criminalisation of humanitarian aid and solidarity with refugees.

The charges brought against the Five sound absurd. According to the prosecution, their ‘crime’ was to provide food and clothing and to transport a family of nine Iraqi Kurds and an Egyptian citizen ‘deep into the country’, which literally means driving them from the forest a few kilometres to the nearest town. Additionally, according to the prosecution, the Five were supposed to have done this in order to gain a personal benefit – but not their own, but that of the refugees.

The case of the Five is not the only example of the criminalisation of solidarity on the Polish-Belarusian border. The meeting will discuss the strategies of repression used by the Polish state, as well as the successes and challenges of anti-repression activities.