Paulina Bovnik is a doctor. She works in a hospital 30 kilometers from the Belarusian border. What is happening there now, Paulina shows monstrous and horrified tears when she has to talk about it. Polish border guards blocked the refugees’ way inland. And the Belarusians do not let them back.
Paulina Bovnik is trying to help these people. They lack the essentials – food and water. Many of them are sick. They all look tired and desperate. You could see how he was lying unconscious on the ground – this is the situation of the doctor. But I was not allowed. ”
The regime on the border made hostages
Such scenes at the border happen all the time, and it’s not just about Afghans, says Paulina Bovnik. On one occasion, volunteers were not allowed to hand over a blanket to a family with small children. On another occasion, the border guards tried to prohibit all communication with refugees. What’s going on there now? The doctor is very worried about this situation. Since the moment when the state of emergency was introduced at the border, neither volunteers nor journalists have access to the three-kilometer strip along the border where the refugees are.
“The government’s decision to isolate the territory is a scandal,” says Polish opposition leader Frantisek Sterzewski. The deputy was at the border and saw for himself what was happening there. “It’s ridiculous to declare a state of emergency over 30 Afghans,” Sterzewski said indignantly. But the Polish border service proceeds from the assumption that 10,000 illegal migrants will try to get through Belarus to the EU.
Sterzewski says that it is not about allowing everyone to cross the border, but about the possibility of using it to file a petition and legally end up in the EU. “The government wants to use the state of emergency only to hide how inhumanely refugees are treated at the border,” the oppositionist says. And the authorities, he said, want journalists not to be able to write critical articles on this topic.
The government’s warnings about upcoming provocations in connection with the joint exercises of Russia and the deputy are not an argument: “Such military maneuvers are taking place regularly.” The opposition politician himself made headlines when he tried to pass packages with food and medicine to Afghan refugees, bypassing border guards. “This is about helping people at any cost, because the Polish state refuses any humanitarian aid to them,” he says.
Polish society split over refugee issue
In government circles, Sterzhevsky’s behavior is called grotesque, shameful, discrediting the opposition. In general, the introduction of a state of emergency on the border polarizes Polish society. Someone who opposes such a regime.
Polish border guards near the tents of Afghan refugees
In the Polish regime, the majority supported the introduction of the state of emergency. “Belarus and Russia are waging a hybrid war,” said Jaroslav Krajewski, an MP from the ruling Law and Justice Party (ZiS). And the EU must oppose this: “Our intelligence services have information that clearly shows that the threat posed by countries is growing. It is all the more important to secure the external borders of the EU, the Polish leadership believes.
The European Commission sees the situation in a similar way. When asked by DW, they replied that the situation on the border with Belarus is a challenge: “We reject all attempts by other states to incite illegal migration to the EU or tolerate it”. As for the introduction of a state of emergency, the European Commission promises to check how adequate the measures taken are.
“I’m not a politician,” says doctor Paulina Bovnik. But she also wonders how the evacuation of Afghans from Kabul relates to the fate of a group of people stuck on the border. After everything she saw at the border, she was disappointed by the position of Brussels: “I came to the conclusion that the EU has betrayed its ideals.
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Afghanistan belongs to the Taliban: what will happen to the country?
Kabul surrendered to the Taliban without a fight
Having seized one by one all the major cities in Afghanistan, the Taliban fighters took Kabul on August 15. Before that, they said that they would not storm the city and would take it “peacefully”. Afghan Interior Minister announced that the capital will be transferred to the Taliban peacefully. The militants of the group occupied the presidential palace in Kabul to prepare for a change of power.
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Afghanistan belongs to the Taliban: what will happen to the country?
Large cities in the hands of the Taliban
The last two cities that the Taliban captured before taking Kabul in August were Jalalabad and Mazar-i-Sharif. Jalalabad surrendered to the Taliban without, Mazar-i-Sharif, where the key forces of resistance to the Taliban were identified, was also taken practically without a fight. Its rapid capture came as a surprise to both the West and the Afghan government. The picture shows the Taliban after the capture of Jalalabad.
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Afghanistan belongs to the Taliban: what will happen to the country?
Afghan President Ghani fled the country
A few hours after the Taliban seizure of Kabul, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. On his Facebook, he wrote that he left “to avoid bloodshed.” According to various sources, Ghani could have gone to Uzbekistan, Tajikistan or Oman. Afghan social media calls him a coward and blames him for creating the current situation in the country.
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Afghanistan belongs to the Taliban: what will happen to the country?
At the airport in Kabul, people in panic storm the planes
After the capture of Kabul by Taliban militants, chaos reigned in the capital: hundreds of people rushed to the airport in panic, hoping to leave the country. Videos and photographs posted on social media on Monday, August 16, and the day before, show people climbing spiral staircases, trying to climb onto planes. According to reports, even those who do not have passports are among them.
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Afghanistan belongs to the Taliban: what will happen to the country?
The Bundeswehr hastily evacuates those in need of protection
Many countries hastily evacuate their diplomatic missions and locally hired diplomatic missions along with their families. According to the German Defense Ministry, Bundeswehr transport planes flew to Kabul to “deliver from Afghanistan to a safe place to protect those in need.” The picture shows the planes before leaving for Afghanistan from Wunstorf airfield near Hanover on August 15.
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Afghanistan belongs to the Taliban: what will happen to the country?
The British are evacuated from Afghanistan by the military
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Afghanistan belongs to the Taliban: what will happen to the country?
Rapid Taliban offensive across the country
The forecast of troops from Afghanistan served as the impetus for the Taliban’s attempt to seize power, and it turned out to be correct. Military clashes between the Taliban and Afghan security forces have erupted across the country. The battles were fought in most regions, including with the use of heavy weapons. The picture shows the Taliban at the checkpoint before entering the city of Kunduz.
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Afghanistan belongs to the Taliban: what will happen to the country?
Capture of Kunduz by Taliban – loss for government forces
The Taliban captured Kunduz, a key city in the north of the country and considered the gateway to the northern provinces of Afghanistan, on 8 August. The loss of Kunduz was a huge blow to the Afghan security forces. All administrative buildings in the city came under the control of the Taliban, including the governor’s office and the police headquarters. Much of the city’s infrastructure was destroyed during the fighting.
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Afghanistan belongs to the Taliban: what will happen to the country?
Taliban leave in ruins
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Afghanistan belongs to the Taliban: what will happen to the country?
Fearing revenge from the Taliban
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Afghanistan belongs to the Taliban: what will happen to the country?
What awaits women after the Taliban comes to power?
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Afghanistan belongs to the Taliban: what will happen to the country?
US withdrawal from Afghanistan – after almost 20 years of stay in the country
The United States decided to withdraw from Afghanistan almost 20 years after the start of military operations in this country. Joe Bide announced that the withdrawal would be completed by 9/11, the 20th anniversary of the attacks in New York and Washington. Other NATO countries also decided to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. According to opinion polls, most people in the United States and Germany supported the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
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Afghanistan belongs to the Taliban: what will happen to the country?
Was the decision of the United States and NATO to withdraw from Afghanistan correct?
Quite a few Western experts are imprisoned that the decision of the United States and NATO to send troops from Afghanistan was premature. Many believe that the troops are Afghan international troops. The picture shows Bundeswehr soldiers leaving the military camp in Faizabad.
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Afghanistan belongs to the Taliban: what will happen to the country?
Failure of the US and NATO mission in Afghanistan
The Taliban’s lightning-fast takeover of Afghanistan came as a shock to the entire world and a testament to the failure of the nearly 20-year mission of the United States and NATO. What is the future of the country?
Author: Marina Baranovskaya