Trapped between borders
Thousands of migrants and refugees are trapped on the border between Belarus and Poland. And their future is uncertain. Steve Rosenberg takes us inside one of the camps.
Thousands of people, many from the Middle East, are stuck on Belarus鈥� border with Poland. It's freezing cold, it's damp, it's dangerous. The European Union has stepped up sanctions against Belarus and those closest to its leader in response to the escalating migrant crisis. The bloc accuses Alexander Lukashenko of using migrants as a form of hybrid warfare against Europe - of facilitating their journey to Belarus - and of engineering a humanitarian emergency. Mr Lukashenko has repeatedly denied that Belarus is sending migrants over the border in revenge for existing EU sanctions. Whilst the political wrangling continues, the real-life crisis for these people worsens hour-by-hour. Footage shows migrants sitting down on roads in front of barbed wire and Polish forces in a tense stand-off. Their futures are full of uncertainty. For 5 Minutes On, our Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg has travelled to the Belarusian border to see for himself what鈥檚 happening.
