DISINFO: The US and EU are to blame for the migration crisis at EU-Belarus border
SUMMARY
There is no verifiable evidence that Lukashenka is using Belarus as a transit country to try to flood the EU with refugees from Iraq and other countries... There would be no Iraqi refugees if the United States had not devastated Iraq year after year for most of this century on the basis of lies.
At the end of the day, the EU has stood idly by and done nothing. The European Union has also stood idly by, and often provided support, for other US campaigns in countries such as Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and many others around the world.
RESPONSE
Baseless claim trying to deflect the attention from the Belarusian responsibility for the ongoing migration crisis at the EU-Belarus border.
It is now a recurrent claim where Russian state media amplify and support Lukashenko's regime narrative.
In 2021, Lithuania, Poland and Latvia faced an influx of irregular migrants from Belarus. Earlier, Belarus had ended cooperation with the EU to stem illegal migration. This was Lukashenka's answer to the European Union sanctions on the political regime of Belarus (read more about sanctions here).
There is 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 Ylva Johansson said, inter alia: "The authoritarian regime in Belarus is exploiting human beings for political reasons: this is completely unacceptable."
To be able to respond to the instrumentalisation of human beings carried out by the Belarus regime for political purposes, on 15 November 2021, the EU broadened the scope for previously imposed sanctions. The EU will now be able to target individuals and entities organising or contributing to activities by the Lukashenka regime that facilitate the illegal crossing of the EU's external borders.
Earlier, President von der Leyen has stated that the situation on the EU-Belarus border is "the attempt of an authoritarian regime to try to destabilise its democratic neighbours". Similarly, High Representative Borrell has highlighted that the Lukashenka regime is weaponising human beings as a tool for political purposes by giving migrants false expectations and putting them in a situation of extreme vulnerability.
See our articles on the Belarus migrants situation here and here.