Poland is not a safe place for migrants and refugees. At least 10 people died at the Polish-Belarussian border, many were hospitalized (and later pushed back to Belarus). Refugees tell us that there are more victims, they talk about human bodies they have seen in the forest. Winter is here: there is snow and temperatures below zero. There will be more death, if we don’t help the people who are stuck in this trap at the border.
 
Recent months have also brought fear and anxiety for those migrants and refugees who already live in Poland. More physical assaults. More verbal assaults. Something broke and Poland became a very unfriendly and dangerous place.

As Grupa Granica (The Border Group) we stand against such way of thinking where people are made to be an enemy. We don’t want walls at the border. We don’t want walls in people’s heads.
 
We bring help to refugees and migrants who are trapped in the dreadful primeval forest at the border. We do it, because they are human beings, because they are hungry, because there is no safe exit for them. Our activists deliver food, water, warm clothes. We listen to refugees’ stories and their hopes, document their fates, help find missing family members, and – when possible – offer legal aid. Sometimes we save lives. Sometimes all we can save is our own humanness.
 
Our work does not end at the border. It starts there. NGOs which form Grupa Granica also work with people who were lucky to have their asylum claims received in Poland and those who were recognized as refugees. They need lawyers and therapists, material aid, a place to live and a job. Their children need assistance in facing the new school system in a new place and a new language.
 
Thigs are becoming dangerous also for those who help. People who live in towns and villages in the border area pay a high price for helping. If necessary, we will use some of the money to help the helpers.
 
By supporting us, you help our newcomers catch a breath and start feeling safe in Poland.
 
WHAT DO WE NEED THE MONEY FOR?
Major items are:

• food and other necessary things for refugees at the border,
• monitoring and documenting the border crisis,
• legal and psychological aid,
• fuel, communications, equipment needed in our work,
• reliable news directed at refugees and Polish people (journalists cannot go into the border zone),
• everyday work of teams in the field and at the desk,
• reinforcement of a stable support network for refugees and migrants in Poland,
• unplanned expenses we need to make to adjust to the situation that is constantly changing.

WHO WE ARE?
Grupa Granica is an alliance of a number of NGOs that have been working for and with refugees and migrants for years as well as documentation, research and legal teams; there are also local residents at the border area.

The NGO members of the Group are:

• Stowarzyszenie Nomada,
• Stowarzyszenie Interwencji Prawnej,
• Stowarzyszenie Homo Faber,
• Polskie Forum Migracyjne,
• Helsińska Fundacja Praw Człowieka,
• Salam Lab,
• Dom Otwarty,
• Centrum Pomocy Prawnej im. Haliny Nieć,
• Chlebem i Solą,
• uchodźcy.info,
• Kuchnia Konfliktu,
• Strefa WolnoSłowa,
• RATS Agency.