By Yara Abi Nader and Joanna Plucinska

BIALYSTOK in Poland (Reuters – Umm Malak is 26-year-old and was due to give birth within weeks. In the hope of giving her children a better future in Germany, she was happy to travel through deep water to hide with her small girls in cold forests.

According to the Iraqi woman, she didn’t regret making these efforts even though her family was forced six times between Belarusian and Polish border patrols in recent weeks.

“The future is my children’s, this is the first thing I need to consider. Because in Iraq there are no futures for neither us nor them.

According to a spokesperson for the Polish Police, police do not carry out activities like taking people back across borders. The Polish Border Guard and the Belarusian authorities did not respond to her requests for comment.

Reuters couldn’t independently verify her account.

Umm Malak is among thousands of people, most of them Iraqis, trying to reach the European Union by way of Belarus, starting in spring.

Reuters met her at a migrant center in Bialystok in Poland, where her husband was also present. Open migrant centres allow migrants to freely enter and exit the centre, provided they meet any quarantine or coronavirus requirements.

Umm Malak claimed she was due in three weeks to have a baby and said it was possible in Germany.

Minsk is accused by the European Union of creating the crisis in a hybrid attack on the bloc. This includes distributing Belarusian visas to the Middle East and flying migrants in, before pushing them across the border illegally.

Belarus claims it did not foment the crisis. However, it has stated it could help to end it if Europe lifted existing sanctions.

Poland held some migrants in closed centers and moved others to open facilities, mostly for elderly or sick people.

Umm Malak stated that she arrived in Belarus via Dubai at the start of October. She had planned to cross the Belarusian border and then travel to Germany by road with her three daughters (all under 10 years old) and her husband. According to Umm Malak, six of their attempted crossings into Poland had been thwarted.

FALL IN A POON

She said that the Polish authorities had caught her and took them back to Belarus. She said that they tried to cross into Lithuania, but became tired so she returned.

Umm Malak claimed that she tried to get into Poland once, but was stopped by the Belarusian authorities. She said they helped her to cut the Polish border to allow her and her family to cross.

After falling into the pond, she became sick. She was eight months pregnant. After three days in detention by Polish authorities, the woman was taken to a closed center to receive treatment, and later to another open facility.

“We fell into the water at noon and then overnight…they (Polish border guard) found us. She said, “When they got us we couldn’t stand alone.”

Reuters spoke to some Bialystok migrants who said they regretted their trip to Poland.

Umm Malak however said that immigrants, especially from Iraq, should try to get over the EU-border.

She said, “I advise anyone who is thinking about coming to Iraq that they do not go there because it does not offer any security or future.” You can bear the challenges of the trip for at least a month, and for as long as you want, but it is better than continuing to endure in Iraq for decades.