One of the “volunteers of the Egala association and the Granica group” tells her story on Facebook. The story takes place on Saturday, October 1. “After 1 p.m. I received information from an activist called the Man of the Forest that an ambulance could bring a man from Syria with a bruised leg to the hospital in Hajnówka,” writes an “activist ” anonymous.

The activist arrives at Hajnówka hospital, where she meets border guards outside the door to the treatment room. Said Syrian must have been in the office. “I introduced myself by name, informed that I was a volunteer at Hajnówka Hospital, that I represented the Egala Association and the Granica Group, and expressed the need to talk to the patient. I informed that I would like to ask the man if he wants to grant me power of attorney. The officer replied that the Lord had not expressed such a will in the conversation with the interpreter”.

The volunteer, however, insisted that she wanted to hear it personally from a Syrian. She called the doctor on duty, who agreed to speak abroad. The volunteer continues: “During a telephone conversation with the interpreter, the man expressed his willingness to grant me a power of attorney, received a document with a translation in his language, which he then read and signed . I immediately handed over a copy to the border guards”.

According to the volunteer, the Syrian had a dislocated leg. After helping the man, border guards took the man from the hospital. The volunteer says that after some time she learned that the Syrian had been taken to the registration center for foreigners in Połowce. The woman sent her powers of attorney to represent him, obtained from the Syrian, from the border guards.

“Before 6 p.m. I received information from the Man of the Forest that the man is on the Belarusian side – his family provided his location. According to the man’s information, there was no as an interpreter at the border guard post, but he was injured and terrified in the forest. The family is desperate,” the activist continues. As he writes, she ultimately failed to get a response from the border guards on the fate of the Syrian.

He ends his story on Facebook as follows: “At the hospital, the man was wearing dirty and soaked clothes. I don’t think he could have put his shoes on his tanned foot. It is very painful with such injuries and the bandage makes the shoes too small. I don’t know if the border guard officers handed out painkillers. I don’t know if the man received dry clothes, food and water. I know he hasn’t eaten or drunk in days.

The story of the same Syrian is presented in a completely different way by the border guards. This information is made public on Twitter.

Border guard: “A Syrian citizen illegally crossed the border between Belarus and Poland. The activists called the emergency number with the information that they were with an injured foreigner at the border. Border guards found this man. There was no one with him. At the hospital, doctors deemed his health to be safe. The foreigner received painkillers and did not require hospitalization.

Later, in the border guard’s Twitter message, we read: “The Syrian has written a statement that he wants to go to Luxembourg and does not want protection in Poland. At that time, a person came to the hospital claiming to be the foreigner’s lawyer. On the spot, she gave him the documents to sign.

The border guard also gives other circumstances of the whole event: “It also turned out that two couriers, Russian citizens, were waiting for him at the border. […] The border guard determines who contacted two Russian citizens who crossed the border to pick up a group of immigrants, including a Syrian citizen, and transport them to western Europe”.

The border guard adds a comment to his account: “militants, by giving their phone numbers to foreigners on the Belarusian side, somehow incite them to illegally cross the border”.

As we learn from the description of the “volunteer” of Egal’s Creation and the Granica group, she submitted a written request to the border guard to explain the whole situation. He adds: “I received the information that my email will be answered on Monday, because the person who knows this matter today [tzn. w sobotę 1 października – przyp. red.] no longer works”. However, we could not find the answer on Facebook, where the story was posted by the volunteer.

The volunteer ends her story with the following words: “There are few helpers on the Polish-Belarusian border, they are people of particular sensitivity. By combining our experiences, we are able to help more people along the way”.

Both versions of the Syrian’s story on social media received a lot of comments. Rather unfavorable to “volunteers” who provide help and support to foreigners who travel illegally from Belarus to Poland.