In collaboration with our colleagues from across the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement we have been able to transition to full-scale migration operations. From the beginning of the conflict, we have been supporting thousands of people with primary health services, as well as with mental health and psychological support at borders, reception centres and train stations. We built our capacity and operational resources throughout these months, which has helped us be better prepared to respond to the displacement from Ukraine. The Polish Red Cross set up distribution points as this one at Michalowo, to help migrants along the Polish-Belarus border, November 2021. We also distributed leaflets with information on Red Cross support to find family members and worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to try to identify the bodies of dead migrants – a very difficult task given the scarce information available. We were worried to hear that people were not always able to access protection services. During these visits, we offered first aid assistance, identified potential medical needs and advised border guards when people needed to be referred to hospital for further assessment. Later, we managed to reach an agreement with border guards to provide humanitarian and medical aid at the emergency border zone three days per week. At first, our rescue teams could only access the emergency zone accompanied by the Office of Commissioner for Human Rights. In collaboration with local NGOs, we have been distributing packages containing warm clothes, shoes, blankets and hygiene items. We set up local distribution points to help migrants along the Polish-Belarus border. At the same time, with the operational and financial support of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), we managed to expand our activities.
TAGS FOR HOPE FULL
We sought to establish dialogue with the authorities, calling for full and regular access to all migrants, wherever they may be and irrespective of their legal status. As Polish Red Cross, we had to find our way through this tricky situation while standing by our principles, especially our neutrality. As a result, assistance could not reach people in need. This included limiting people's movement in a 3-km-wide strip of land along the border, where nobody could enter, including aid organisations. To what extent has Polish Red Cross work on migrations changed over the last year?įollowing growing numbers of people trying to enter Poland from Belarus, the government declared a state of emergency between 2 September 2021 and 30 June this year. We caught up with Katarzyna Kubicius, Head of Information and Tracing Service at the Polish Red Cross, to hear more about how their work to support people on the move has been affected. During the last year, Poland has been in the heart of EU migration developments due its geographic location.
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