Umm Malak, 26 and due to give birth in weeks, was willing to go through chest-deep water, hiding in cold forests with her three small daughters in the hopes of giving them a better life in Germany.
The Iraqi woman said she did not regret her efforts, even though she said she and her family had been shunted between Polish and Belarusian border guards six times in the last few weeks.
Reuters spoke to her in a migrant centre in the Polish city of Bialystok, where she was staying with her husband and three daughters. The migrant centre is an open one, meaning migrants can come and go freely, once they have fulfilled any coronavirus quarantine requirements.The European Union accuses Minsk of creating the crisis as part of aon the bloc - distributing Belarusian visas in the Middle East, flying in the migrants and then pushing them to cross the border illegally.
Umm Malak said she landed in Belarus from Dubai at the beginning of October and had hoped to cross the Belarusian border then go by road to Germany with her daughters, all under the age of 10, and her husband. She said six of their attempts to cross into Poland were foiled.On a few occasions, she said the Polish authorities caught them, taking them back to the border with Belarus. On another attempt, she said they crossed into Lithuania but got tired and returned.
"We fell into the pond at noon then overnight... they got us. When they got us, I couldn't stand by myself," she said.
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