A delegation from the Community of Warsaw on the anniversary of Berlin Wall's fall paid tribute to the migrants who died trying to cross the barrier between Belarus and Poland

 

These are some of the migrants who died at the border between Belarus and Poland, in an attempt to reach Europe, whose names the Community of Sant'Egidio in Warsaw recalled in the prayer ‘Dying of Hope’ in Warsaw in October. At least 116 people, mostly very young, lost their lives in the past year along this border. In fact, since 2021, refugees who had arrived in Belarus have been directed to Poland. Yet the vast, ancient Bialowieza forest stretches across the border between Belarus and Poland. Here the stranded refugees have to camp with no protection, in marshes, exposed to the weather, freezing cold and snow. 

 

Along the border, the Polish government has built a barrier more than 180 kilometres long to prevent the migrants from crossing. Most have been pushed back. Some of those who managed to cross the border were found dead on Polish territory.

 

A delegation from Sant'Egidio went in recent days to visit their graves, often very humble, in the small Islamic cemetery in Bohoniki and the Catholic cemetery in Krynki. A gesture to remember all those who died in the forests on the border with Belarus, but also to pray that the walls currently dividing countries and peoples may fall, as happened 35 years ago in Berlin.