DISINFO: Migrant woman miscarries after being beaten up by Polish law enforcer
SUMMARY
A pregnant refugee has miscarried after a Polish serviceman kicked her in the belly several times on the Belarusian border. Her son said he saw an elderly Polish law enforcer with one star on his epaulettes do it. The woman later started bleeding and miscarried.
RESPONSE
Unsubstantiated claim based on unverified evidence from an unidentified migrant, quoted by a Telegram channel run by Belarusian border authorities and by several pro-Kremlin outlets.
In 2021, Lithuania, Poland and Latvia faced an influx of irregular migrants arriving via Belarus. Earlier, Belarus had terminated cooperation with the EU to stem illegal migration. This was Lukashenka's answer to the European Union's sanctions on the political regime of Belarus (read more about sanctions here).
There is plenty of evidence that the Belarusian authorities have instigated the ongoing migration crisis in Lithuania, Poland and Latvia. Lukashenka's regime is using migrants from the Middle East as "political and hybrid" tools against Lithuania and the entire EU. Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson has said that "[t]he authoritarian regime in Belarus is exploiting human beings for political reasons" and called the behaviour of the regime "completely unacceptable".
Several investigative journalists and have proven (see here and here) that some migrants arrive in Belarus by commercial flights from Baghdad to Minsk. Information gathered also suggests that migrants are regularly transported by bus to the Belarusian-Lithuanian border. More information about Lukashenka's role in the organisation of the current migration crisis can be found here and here.
Read more disinformation reports about the Belarus border crisis.