– But I completely disagree. I believe that accepting these people and letting them apply for asylum, maybe deporting them but from Poland, not by pushbacks, would be very effective in taking the weapon out of the hands of Lukashenka.
Karol Wilczyński believes that anyone can make a difference as long as they believe in their cause.
– As a co-creator of Grupa Granica, the Border Group, as well as co-creator of Salam Lab, one of the biggest NGO’s working in my hometown, Krakow, we helped tens of thousands of people since last year, and I believe this is a difference.
Pay a high price
Many volunteers do not stop working for others, even though they pay a high price, which can be their freedom.
–There were a few cases where they go to jail or where arrested for awhile for just helping, and I believe the situation wont change until the government change. A lot of activist, including me, we pay a high price for working on this.
– I used to say I wouldn’t invite myself for coffee, because usually I am so much into my work that I think about it and it’s heart issues and it’s really hard to find these easy topics and small talk. But on the other hand I believe it’s super important for us as activists to be out and have this 8-9 hours a day to think of the work and then just turn off.
Find allies
– In this kind of work that we do on the Polish-Belarusian or the Lithuanian-Belarusian border, it is important to find allies, because these organisations and these activists are completely alone sometimes. They don’t have funding, they don’t have capacity to manage these cases. And the big international NGO’s, politicians, European Union should help.
– This is not only about the people on the move, but it is a bigger case of human rights and equality. It is about European Union values, and that is why people who believe in these values should get engaged.
