how refugees prepare for a trip to the border

For several days, hundreds of people have gathered near the sports palace and shopping gallery on Nemiga Street before going to the border. More than 100 people gathered there on Saturday morning, ready to travel to the border. Some of them spent the night in tents in the underground passage, but most of the people arrived in the morning by taxi in groups of 3-5 people.

On the roadway near the place where migrants gather, police cars are on duty, and among the refugees themselves are constantly walking people in civilian clothes of Slavic appearance. Some of them are dressed in balaclavas and hold dictaphones in their hands. They constantly negotiate something with the refugees, and everyone is waiting for something. And if someone tries to talk to the guests of the capital, then people in civilian clothes immediately intervene and stop all conversations.

Refugees themselves are very reluctant to communicate with journalists. Many of them do not understand English. Those who agree to speak say that they came “as tourists”, lived in Minsk for several nights in hotels, and now they will go to Grodno – the nearest city to the refugee camp near the Bruzgi checkpoint. They want to go to Germany in search of work and a better life.

“I myself am from Kurdistan, worked as a teacher for six years, but our government does not pay us salaries, why should I stay there?” – One of the refugees told The Insider about his motives. From Germany, he intends to go to France. Several thousand people from Syria and Iraq have already gathered on the border of the Republic of Belarus with Poland. People lack food and water. In the media, there are reports that someone has already died of the cold.