Stories from the exclusion zone: no human being is illegal

A refugee stuck on a dam is hanging upside down. After a while, he falls from a height of several meters to the ground. Image: Janowski J.

Scenes on the border, such as those in Białowieża, Narewka and Siemianówka, take place just over 200 kilometers from Warsaw, on the territory of the Polish state. These distant conflicts, the effects of climate change and hunger, which we often ignore in everyday life, suddenly reached us in the form of refugees. After reaching the “safe” side of the border, different fates await them, as well as the confusion of finding out who is responsible.

Several people were buried in the Muslim cemetery of Polish Tatars in the border town of Bohoniki. Christian refugees are also among dead (and dozens missing). Some migrants were detained for many months in closed centers for foreigners, which resemble prisons. However, thousands of refugees manage to cross the border and reach their families and friends in Western Europe. They are accompanied by traumatic memories of border situations where they had to hide in the forest from aggressive guards from both countries: Poland and Belarus, experienced violence and made repeated attempts to cross a fence or a river. For us, only the remains of their camps in the forest stay standing: wet jackets and empty baby milk containers are traces of human presence that preserve the memory of what happened there. The responsibility for these events rests with many people.

“The first person whose body we found was an Ethiopian woman. Friends of the girl, who was in a very bad condition, went to ask for help. They met a milkman. However, he did not know English, but he understood that they needed help. He called the services. The police arrived, and then the Border Guard. They were expelled to Belarus. They forgot about the girl. I looked for her twice. To this day I still can’t come to terms with the fact that maybe she was still alive when I was looking for her. Even though I searched for her for days, we found her body after a week. This story comes back to me like a boomerang, because I think that she could have lived if the Services had gone to her. If I, for example, had taken a different path. If only more people would take part in the search. But no one from the Services bothered”- says the young activist from POPH (Podlaskie Volunteer Humanitarian Emergency Service) Group.

Whenever someone uses the term “security”, are they referring to the literal meaning of the word? The concept of “state security” and the meaning of “secure border” may vary depending on the context. In the field of security studies, there are different approaches to key issues related to this term. Understanding the definition is of particular importance in the current debate on the humanitarian crisis of refugees.

In today’s world, there are many interpretations of “state security”. This may mean protecting the territory and citizens against external and internal threats, such as terrorism or armed aggression. However, in security research, there are various approaches to this issue that take into account economic, political, social and ecological aspects. Similarly, the definition of a “safe boundary” may vary depending on perspective. For some, this may mean physically protecting the border against illegal migration or smuggling, while for others it may mean ensuring stable relations and international cooperation with neighboring countries.

As borders become battlegrounds for competing definitions of security, the question arises: whose safety takes precedence? For governments, securing national borders often means increased surveillance and deterrence policies. For those fleeing war, persecution, or poverty, true security lies in the ability to cross those borders and find refuge. In the midst of a growing humanitarian crisis, this tension demands closer examination. So, what is a border? A line on a map? A wall? Barbed wire? Or perhaps an ongoing process of control and resistance?

A group of researchers working at the Polish-Belarusian border has created a map that challenges traditional representations of borders. Drawing on the methodology of counter-mapping, it does not display precise locations but instead highlights key elements of the borderland’s geography. More importantly, it reveals the mechanisms of violence, policies of control, and the daily realities of people on the move.

This map is the result of extensive documentation and research conducted since the beginning of the humanitarian crisis, combined with activist reflections. Its development involved researchers, activists, and an international team of artists and technologists, working together to provide a deeper understanding of this contested space.

“A man riding a bicycle heard a scream. He stopped and saw a military man beating a black boy. He reacted. I asked why he did it. He said an important thing. He himself was in WOP. He said that Poland should not look like this. Poland should be an honest country, where people in uniform do their job, and someone else judges and issues sentences. And this is consistent with what I think. Not only we should act in accordance with the law, but also the Services. We stand in this place, but we have a clear conscience. We act with certain motives. Our motives are moral above all else. So when someone tells us that helping is illegal, we know that, in truth, it is the right thing to do—and therefore, it is just”- says the young activist from Granica Group.

Looking at different approaches to security, one can notice that the slogan ‘a safe border is one where no one dies’ conveys a more complete and universal idea. A border is not merely a physical barrier; it is a relationship between people, shaped by laws, policies, and moral choices. As such, it should be designed to protect human life—ensuring safe passage for those fleeing danger while implementing measures that genuinely address security concerns. True safety is not about fortifying borders but about creating systems that distinguish between those seeking refuge and those who may pose a threat, without resorting to policies that endanger lives.

Laws are a social relationship and not merely a set of immutable physicalities. Interpreting legal complexities is the domain of lawyers. Political science deals with the issue of power, which exists in all social relationships, even when two people do not have direct contact. The refugee’s encounter with the border is still a relationship between people, and therefore a relationship of power. 

Excluding the legal assessment of this relationship, and approaching it from a moral and human point of view, is determined by the individual beliefs of each person. The task of science is not to resolve these beliefs, but to illuminate phenomena and through analysis reveal previously hidden issues. Not many things like to be hidden more than power relations do. It is just a matter of revealing what banners they operate under, like in this case: misusing the meaning  of “security”.

 

Main image source: Daniel Garzon on Scop.io