Migrants freeze at Poland border

Bruzgi (Belarus): On a sunny but freezing morning in a forested area of Belarus at the border with Poland, hundreds of migrants line up to receive hot food and water.

They have been stuck here for over a month in the hopes of entering the European Union. Despite several failed attempts to storm the frontier amid the frigid temperatures, many still hope they will be allowed in.

“I don’t want to stay in Iraq because life there is difficult, even our life is dangerous. Our life there isn’t safe, as you see about ISIS and everything else,” Iraqi migrant Ahmad Rebaz, 27, said, referring to the Islamic State group. He said his wife had recently given birth to their second child in the nearby Belarusian city of Grodno.

Since Nov. 8, a large group of migrants, mostly Iraqi Kurds, has been stranded in Belarus at a border crossing with Poland. Most of the migrants are fleeing conflict or hopelessness at home, and aim to reach Germany or other Western European countries. Poland took a tough stance against the migrants’ illegal entry, reinforcing the border and pushing those attempting to get in back into Belarus. -(AP)