On the last page it says “I don’t want to apply for asylum in Poland, I don’t want to live in Poland.” So I didn’t sign. Abai’s pushback.

Abai attempted to cross the Belarusian-Polish border five times over the course of two months. As he reports, he was pushed back a total of four times, but only twice taken to a Border Guard post before being pushed back. The last pushback that Abai recounts was supposed to take place around September 7. At that time, the man crossed the border together with six other Ethiopians – four men and two women. They crossed the border at night, separated and dispersed, but after a short time, they were all caught. Abai believes they were targeted using drones he saw flying overhead. He reports that the detention was made by about ten officers, but also highlights that he is not sure about this due to the stress:

There were a lot of police officers there, maybe around 10 people. And when they catch you even two people feel like many and it’s scary.

During the apprehension in the forest, Abai was only with one of his companions. As he relates, he saw the other five in the car, which transported them to the Border Guard post. He describes that his colleague and him were the last to be caught, and both were searched immediately after being detained:

They took our phones immediately when they caught us, before we got into the car. […] Phones were all we had at that time, money and phones, that’s it.

Shortly after being searched and having his phones taken away, Abai described him being beaten and sprayed with pepper spray. Asked if he had expressed a request for protection in Poland, he replied:

Once they use the pepper spray it is hard to talk, when they used it on me I couldn’t even stand straight, it’s so painful so I didn’t manage to talk to them. If the pepper spray is in your eye you can’t see straight, you can’t see clearly even the next day or so.

Then, according to the report, all seven were transported to the Border Guard post in a pick-up truck. The trip was to take about 30-40 minutes. Abai notes in his account that this is an estimate of the driving time. He could not verify how long it actually took because according to his testimony, everyone’s phones had been taken away. At the post, the entire group was to be kept in one room:

They put us into like a magazine, something that looked like a jail-cell, and in the next morning they took us and pushed us back. 

[…] There wasn’t a toilet and anything, it was just so cold.

The man recounts that despite requests, they were given neither water nor food at the facility. He reports that the officers claimed they did not have these products. They were allegedly ignoring the requests he and his companions expressed for international protection in Poland. They were also to ridicule them.

– And did you also ask for asylum?

– We asked, but they didn’t listen and didn’t care.

– So they just didn’t answer or did they say something about that?

– They would laugh at you and just leave.

Abai does not know exactly how much time was spent at the post. He states that it could not have lasted more than one night, as he remembers that in the morning they were all taken together to the border barrier. There the guards were to open the gate and order the group to cross to the other side. After crossing, Abai and his companions met Belarusian services, from whom they allegedly also experienced violence.

There are all sorts of violence, everything more or less I mentioned here. Even though I didn’t experience it in the last pushback, I have experienced all sorts of violence, and when they [polish services] beat you from my experience they are even more harsh than the Belarussian soldiers.

[…]

They [Polish officers} have these shoes that look like they are made of metal and they kick you in the stomach and other sensitive areas. 

[…].

They will search you when you arrive at the police station, all we can possibly have is money or phones, and the phones, once they catch you, once they push you back, they break the phones. Even if it’s not broken for some reason the phones don’t work.

Abai further adds that during one of the earlier pushbacks, at a Border Guard post, he was to be given documents to sign. According to his words, he was provided with a translation in a language he could understand. After reviewing its contents, he has refused to sign.

There was a lot of details on that paper, but at the bottom, on the last page it says “I don’t want to apply for asylum in Poland, I don’t want to live in Poland.” so I didn’t sign.

The man points out that regardless of whether someone signed the documents or refused to do so, they were pushed back to Belarus.

They would threaten me to sign. […] They use all sorts of threats and violence, and they tell you to sign. One of my friends signed and I didn’t sign and we thought we would have two different outcomes but they pushed us both back. You sign, they will push you back. You don’t sign, they will push you back.