What next for migrants stuck in Belarus?

"I am waiting for the EU's answer to the question about the 2,000 refugees," Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko told officials on Monday. He said he had asked the European Union, and Germany in particular, to "take these people off our hands." However, outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel has made it clear that the situation in Belarus must be solved at the European level.

It's still unclear what will happen to the 2,000 people who have been housed in a warehouse in Bruzgi, near the border with Poland. Adding to the uncertainty is the growing concern about a COVID-19 outbreak in the temporary sleeping shelter. So far, one case has been confirmed among the migrants. Lukashenko has stressed he will not prevent the migrants from continuing their journey to the EU.

Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO's Europe director, visited the logistics hall tuned dormitory earlier this week and pledged to send medicine and relief supplies. According to authorities, around 100 migrants have already been taken to nearby hospitals, including people suffering from pneumonia.

The European Union has accused Lukashenko of helping to bring migrants from crisis regions like Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan, sending them to the EU's external border to put pressure on the West. Poland and the neighboring Baltic countries have closed their borders, leaving many of the migrants stuck in Belarus.

At least 375 people allegedly tried to enter the EU from Belarus on Wednesday, according to the Polish Border Guard agency, who said they were sent back to Belarus. Five migrants were hospitalized for exhaustion. Police said they have arrested three suspected human traffickers, but since journalists are not allowed into the border area, this information could not be verified.

A spokesperson for the EU's foreign policy chief said the bloc was in contact with the Belarusian Foreign Ministry to clarify how migrants could be repatriated to their countries of origin. In the last two weeks, two groups of Iraqis — some 600 people — already returned to Iraq's northern Kurdish-run region on special flights. Some spoke of abuse suffered at the hands of Belarusian authorities.