At the border

1. Introduction and monitoring methodology
place at the railway station in Brest. On the
first day, the researchers approached persons
who had arrived from Terespol, and on the remaining
days, returned to the station to interview
those who had been refused entry again.
Despite the initial assumption that many people
returned from Terespol may be wary of
strangers and refuse to talk with the researchers,
it transpired that foreigners were particularly
interested in sharing their experiences
from the border crossing in Terespol and
learning what kind of procedures should be
applied to them. Most of the interviews took
place at the railway station in Brest. The researchers
approached people / families on the
way from the check–in to the waiting room,
and initially interviewed them individually.
In time, more people appeared interested in
sharing the information which the researchers
wanted to collect and gathered in groups
of a few to over a dozen people. The waiting
room did not offer comfortable conditions
for these interviews, but it was the only opportunity
to establish at least initial contact
with the foreigners. Belarusians who rent out
accommodation to those who were returned
from the border crossing with Poland often
implied that they were in a hurry and rushed
their lodgers, who seemed to be completely dependent
on the landlords. It also seemed that
some of the hosts were sceptical towards what
the researchers had to communicate in terms
of rights applying to foreigners and perceived
them as a kind of competition. Only a few
brought hosted families to the researchers and
asked for help. In the case of a few other people
it was only possible to conduct interviews
after they have entered Poland. In addition, it
was virtually impossible to meet refugees in
places other than the railway station in Brest
at certain times. They hardly ever left their
accommodation. As they reported to the researchers,
they would rather be napping after
an early rise, cooking, and getting ready for
further attempts to cross the border.
Nevertheless, on both visits to Brest the researchers
were able to interview a total of
over 60 people, talked to many interviewees
repeatedly, and with 16 of them (also after
their successful entry to Poland) in–depth,
unstructured interviews were conducted. The
interviews were held in Russian and by principle
were not recorded because it had been concluded
that they concern such sensitive topics
and take place in such uncomfortable conditions
that a recording device could effectively
deter potential interviewees. Therefore, very
detailed notes were made after each interview.
The interviewees were asked about the following
issues:
• how long and how many times they had
been trying to cross the border,
• why they went to Poland, what they had
told Border Guard officials,
• whether and how Border Guard officials
justified refusing the entry to the territory
of the Republic of Poland,
• how the procedure of entry refusal was
formalized: relevant stamps in passports,
• whether Border Guard officials had given
the foreigners any documents to sign
in connection with the refusal, and if so,
which language were they in and if copies
were provided.
Stowarzyszenie Interwencji Prawnej 9
Analyses, Reports, Evaluations Nº 2/2016