By Yara Abi Nader and Joanna Plucinska

ORLA/BIALYSTOK (Reuters) – Anas Kanaan and Mouein Al-Hadi were told by people smugglers they could easily travel to Germany via Belarus. The only thing they had to do was to send 3,000 euro ($3,390 each) to an intermediary from Turkey.

The safe crossings between Poland and Belarus that were indicated by smugglers were shut down. After more than seven days spent sleeping in the freezing forest borderlands, a smuggler took them to an open area in Poland where police were able to easily spot them. They were then arrested and brought back to Belarus.

After crossing the border once more, al-Hadi stated to Reuters in a field close to Orla. His feet had swollen due to the cold.

Kanaan was his childhood friend. He added, “It is all lies. You will end up on roads you don’t want to travel. They tell you at the end that they aren’t responsible for your actions. Die, whatever’. They want your money.”

The two Syrians, who claimed they wanted to apply for asylum in Poland and not go westward to Germany, were again picked up by the Polish border patrol, who stated that they would be transferred to a detention center.

Marysia Zlonkiewicz from Polish charity With Bread and Salt said, “More people becoming aware that they have been led into an trap and that the promises they were made are a lie.”

HARDER TO CROSS

There has been a prolonged crisis at Belarus’ border that involved many migrants from Syria and Iraq.

Both the EU and Poland claim that President Alexander Lukashenko encouraged migrants to go to Belarus to illegally cross the border. This was in revenge for Minsk’s violations of human rights. Belarus says that it denies this accusation.

For migrants to be able to join the EU now, it is a more challenging task.

EU-imposed restrictions have forced airlines to limit flights from the Middle East towards Belarus. Many regional travel agencies have stopped selling tickets to ex Soviet republic.

Poland has sent over 22,000 border soldiers, police, and guards to a border wall. Meanwhile, Belarusian officials have returned many migrants from Belarus to Minsk in the hope of helping them get back to their homeland.

The Polish Border Guard reports that illegal border crossing attempts dropped from 500 to 200 each day.

Police data indicates that around 314 smugglers were detained in Poland between August and September. These smugglers are from several countries, including Georgia, Sweden and Ukraine.

According to migrants, crossings are becoming more complicated, which has led to a rise in the prices of people smugglers, who have raised their rates up as high as $7,000 according to Reuters.

No Going Back

The border is changing every day. “Every day there’s a new obstacle. There are more guards. More people,” Khaled Zein Aldeen (45), a Syrian migrant, said to Reuters in a Bialystok open migrant center.

The smugglers promised them safe passage to an apartment with their five family members. They also drove ahead in a car to ensure that there was no check by the police. They were also caught lying about it.

According to a spokesperson for the Polish Army, tighter security is making it more difficult for migrants to cross the border. Many are using force, particularly further south, to get through the fence. They were assisted by Belarusians, who provided them with tools to do so.

Despite falling temperatures, and the increased risk of being caught by the authorities, migrants will not give up on trying to cross the border, Zlonkiewicz, an activist, told Reuters.

She stated that many people who are unable to find work, or have no other options when it comes to education, development or employment, have little to lose.

Family members sold their houses and went into debt. There is no way back.

($1 = 0.8846 euros)