Frag Out! Magazine

Traditionally, the regulations on the approach to refugees were created when the refugees were treated as persons in need of shelter and support (refugees understood as persons leaving their place of resi- dence due to repressive actions or fear of repercussions). On the other hand, using migrants for different purposes is portrayed as a criminal activity. Here is where the matters get more complicated. So far, the problem in question was predomi- nantly perceived through the lens of the most common, associated crimi- nal activities related to that matter - slavery, forced labor, or other forms of exploitation, motivated by fraud, blackmail, or violence. Human traf- fickers can be easily dealt with by the Police and Courts. Here, the mat- ters are far more complicated, since a foreign state becomes the actual perpetrator. That state makes use of the weak international, and internal regulations, norms, and rules, for its gains. A serious conflict emerged, between the necessity to protect the state interest (threatened by the actions taken by Belarus and Russia), including the fundamental matters like border protection, and complying with the humanitarian norms, formulated, however, concer- ning different situations. A scenario in which persons fleeing poverty and repression would be used by dicta- tor-led governments in the role of a migration weapon was not conside- red, even remotely. This, thus, may be viewed as an attempt to use the state's legal system and democratic norms against the said state. The Polish authorities reacted, by launching an effort aimed at physi- cally reinforcing the border security system. Effort was started, aimed at creating border barriers - first taking on the form of barbed wire barriers, then becoming metal fence. As alre- ady mentioned, extra-legal measures were implemented - first in the form of a state of emergency, and later on, the statutory regulations in force be- came more strict. the equation. The presence of that group near the border alone created a concern, about the possibility of them being involved in pushing the migrants over the border, and also in provocative incidents targeting the Polish services, or even conducting acts of terror or sabotage within the territory of Poland. Furthermore, one should also note that once Prigozhin was executed with the use of a Buk SAM, the fate of the mercenaries employed by his organization would very much depend on the will of the Russian authorities - and they may use those mercenaries for any pur- pose. On August 1st, an airspace violation was recorded in the Białowieża re- gion, involving Belorussian military helicopters: Mi-24 and Mi-8. They en- tered the Polish airspace at a depth of ca. 3 kilometers and were spotted by the locals. That led to a media storm since the Polish Air Force did not manage to intercept these air- craft. Probably, the goal of that pro- vocation was to demonstrate that in- trusion as such is possible - in broad daylight, above residential areas. It also inspired some social and politi- cal reaction. Next, in early Septem- ber, the Belorussian authorized ac- cused Poland of airspace intrusion. When this article was written, many signs suggested that this was solely a provocation. Here one should ask a question on interpretation of the events that have been and still unfolding on the border for two years now, and on the adequacy of the remedial means im- plemented by Poland. Undoubtedly, the actions taken by the Belorussian side resulted in we- aponization of migration processes, by using persons willing to cross the EU border to create influence that impacted the states bordering Be- larus, by complicating the situation internationally, and inside those sta- tes. These actions were making use of legal, or even semantic loopholes associated with matters as such. ANALYSIS

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