DISINFO: Thousands of migrants were killed in Poland
SUMMARY
The Polish authorities are hiding the number of migrants who died at the Polish-Belarusian border. According to the testimony of Emil Czeczko (a Polish soldier who fled to Belarus and was found hanged in a rented apartment in Minsk), there may be thousands of migrants who were killed in Poland. The Polish activists themselves are starting to talk about it. Three hundred [dead migrants] can be multiplied by several times, and then we will get the actual number of people killed in Poland.
RESPONSE
Disinformation related to the migration situation at the EU - Belarus border.
Belarusian and Russian propaganda are using fake statements from a Polish deserter soldier Emil Czeczko, who made groundless claims about “mass executions” of migrants in Poland.
In 2021, Lithuania, Poland and Latvia faced an influx of irregular migrants arriving via Belarus. Earlier, Belarus had terminated cooperation with the EU to stem illegal migration. This was Lukashenka's answer to the European Union sanctions against the political regime of Belarus (read more about sanctions here).
Belarus consistently accused its neighbouring countries of brutal behaviour toward migrants and violation of human rights. However, these accusations are not supported by facts. It is true that there were several tragic accidents near the border that caused the deaths of some migrants. At the end of 2021, the estimates of migrants' deaths during this crisis ranged from 13 to 21 (see information here and here). In any case, nowhere near the numbers referred to in this article.
There is plenty of evidence that the Belarusian authorities have instigated the migration crisis in Lithuania, Poland and Latvia. Lukashenka's regime is using migrants from the Middle East as "political and hybrid" tools against Lithuania and the entire EU.
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said that the situation on the EU-Belarusian border is not a bilateral issue of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Belarus but a hybrid attack against the whole EU. The Vice-President of the European Commission and High Representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy (HRVP) Josep Borrell stressed that responsibility for the migration crisis falls on the Lukashenka regime.
See related cases of disinformation: Lithuania and Poland should end their mockery of the migrants; A sea of unknown migrants’ graves is located at the Polish border and Polish Border Guards killed thousands of illegal migrants.
This disinformation claim was broadcast on the date mentioned above. Due to the EU decisions to temporarily restrict the spread and dissemination of RT, Sputnik and other instruments used to manipulate information and promote disinformation about the invasion of Ukraine inside the EU, access to the link may not work inside the EU.