{"id":175018,"date":"2026-02-10T17:41:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T14:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/175018\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"investigative-committee-17-dead-migrants-found-in-viciebsk-region-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/175018\/","title":{"rendered":"Investigative Committee: 17 dead migrants found in Viciebsk region in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

February 10, <\/strong>Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Belarusian law enforcement agencies found 17 dead and 14 beaten migrants in the Viciebsk region near the Belarusian-Latvian border in 2025, the country\u2019s Investigative Committee reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agency said it documented accounts of cruel treatment, beating, stun gun attacks, the destruction of documents and pushbacks through an animal gate to Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minsk consistently blames Polish, Lithuanian, and Latvian officers for pushbacks and the suffering endured by third-country nationals trying to cross from Belarus into the European Union to seek asylum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, a report by Oxfam and the Egala human rights group, released earlier this year, stated that migrants attempting to cross into the EU from Belarus face pushbacks and violence on both sides of the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Belarus, migrants are at times detained in camps or forced to establish makeshift shelters in the forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany are consequently gathered by uniformed personnel and coerced to cross the border at specific points. \u2026 People on the move report being prevented by Belarusian forces from leaving the border region or returning to the capital, Minsk, meaning they have no option to escape the cycle of violence in the Sistema, except by attempting to cross into Poland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe policy of pushbacks, together with extensive border fortifications on the Polish side \u2013 including a five-meter-high border fence topped with razor wire \u2013 can trap people in the border area, known as the Sistema or \u2018death zone,\u2019 for days, weeks, or even months,\u201d the report stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBoth those detained in camps and those apprehended by Belarusian forces in the forest report being subjected to violence and extortion, as well as deprivation and confiscation of water, food, and shelter,\u201d the report added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foreigners who managed to return to Minsk said they had to pay bribes of up to \u20ac5,000 to officers to do so \u2014 an exorbitant amount for most. In June, several witnesses reported seeing Belarusian officers break a man\u2019s arm after he said he wanted to return to Minsk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nonprofits documented accounts of theft, extortion, threats with firearms, psychological humiliation, beatings, use of dogs to intimidate or injure people, and torture, including waterboarding and electrocution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWomen and girls face particularly extreme risks, with numerous reports of sexual abuse by Belarusian forces, including rape and gang rape,\u201d the rights defenders said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The migration crisis along the Belarusian-EU border has continued since spring 2021, after Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka, angered by EU sanctions, indicated that Minsk would no longer prevent people from Africa and Asia from traveling through Belarus to the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarus\u2019 western neighbors describe the situation as a \u201chybrid attack\u201d orchestrated by Minsk and Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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