They gave up everything to get to Europe. Now they may be sent home

Iraqi Kurds and other migrants who traveled to Belarus in recent weeks, spending their life savings on airfare and waiting in limbo in freezing makeshift camps in the hopes of crossing into Europe, now face the prospect of being sent back home.

Hundreds of increasingly frustrated migrants stranded at the Belarus-Poland border rushed a checkpoint on Tuesday, throwing rocks, wooden branches and other debris at Polish security forces standing shoulder-to-shoulder with riot shields just meters away. Attempts to breach the barbed wire border fence descended into a dangerous clash, with Polish officers reacting with water cannons and tear gas.

Hours after the confrontation broke out, Belarus border guards moved many of the migrants to shelter in a nearby warehouse, where they spent the night on thin mattresses, receiving hot tea, bread and medical treatment from the Belarusian Red Cross, the UN Refugee Agency and other aid groups. But it was not clear what was next for the migrants, many of whom feared that their new accommodation was just a first step in a process of being deported back to their home countries.