'In inhuman conditions': thousands of Hasidim are stuck on the border of Belarus and Ukraine

A 42-year-old pilgrim from Israel was detained for violating the state border of Ukraine. As reported on Wednesday, September 16, in the state border service of the country, he tried to get to Uman through the swamp, writes "News Israel".

Photo: Shutterstock

The department's press service reports that the detainee is one of hundreds of Hasidim stuck at the Novye Yarilovichi checkpoint on the border of Belarus and Ukraine. Probably convinced that the Ukrainian side did not intend to let the pilgrims in, he tried to find an “alternative route.” As a result, he was detained, expelled and deprived of the right to visit Ukraine for five years.

“The State Border Service emphasized and addressed foreign citizens who plan to enter Ukraine with a recommendation not to try to violate the legislation of Ukraine. However, one of the foreigners, despite the entry restrictions, did not listen to this. He tried to illegally cross the border by bypassing the Novye Yarilovichi checkpoint in the Chernihiv region. But he was immediately detained by the border patrol,” the message says.

According to various estimates, up to 3000 Hasidim are concentrated near the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, trying to break through to Uman. The head of the border service, Sergei Deineko, arrived to negotiate with them, and explained that “there is a resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers that clearly prohibits the entry of foreign citizens into the territory of Ukraine.”

“Every state has its own laws, and it is the responsibility of every person to follow those laws,” he said.

Despite the ban on entry for foreigners, pilgrims are trying to get into Ukraine to visit Uman, where the grave of Rabbi Nachman, the founder of Bratslav Hasidism, is located. Every year tens of thousands of pilgrims, mostly from Israel, come to Ukraine to celebrate the Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashanah, which this year falls on September 18-20.

From August 28 to September 28, 2020, the border of Ukraine was closed to foreigners due to the aggravation of the epidemic situation, such a decision was made at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on August 26. According to the Israeli press, this happened after the head of the government group on the fight against the coronavirus pandemic of Israel, Ronnie Hamza, appealed to President Volodymyr Zelensky, trying to interfere with the pilgrimage in order to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

On the subject: Hasidim from the USA were not allowed into Ukraine: details of the conflict

Also in this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine appealed to Belarus with a petition that the Hasidim should not be issued to travel to Uman.

The border is now heavily guarded. Additional forces are being drawn here, the National Guard and the police are helping the border guards. From the air, the area is patrolled by drones.

Hasidim on the border

According to the National Secretariat of Bratslav Hasidim, there are about 2500 pilgrims at the border crossing point, including whole families with children, writes the Times of Israel. The secretariat said there was not enough food and water on the spot and called on the Israeli Foreign Ministry to immediately intervene in the situation. Air force.

As the website Haredim10 writes, thousands of pilgrims rushed to the border on Monday, September 14, after rumors spread that the border crossing point near Gomel was open. After about a thousand of them were able to leave Belarus, Ukrainian border guards did not let them through. Thus, the pilgrims were stuck on the border between the two countries.

“About 170 Hasidim were able to find a loophole, and, according to them, in exchange for money ($3000 each), various authorities agreed to let them through the border on Monday evening,” the Times of Israel quoted the secretariat as saying.

“In fact, after hundreds more Hasidim arrived at the crossing point, Ukrainian border guards used additional forces, and the chairman of the State Border Service of Ukraine arrived at the site to make sure that no one would get through,” the report said.

"Inhuman Conditions"

Hasid Chaim Weitshandler, who is waiting with others at the border, told the Jerusalem Post that people have almost no food, are forced to go to the toilet in the bushes where they are stuck, and have to sleep in the cold. The Red Cross distributed water and blankets, he said. They also brought sandwiches from the Bratslav benefactor, but this was not enough for half the people at the border.

Weitshandler blames Israel for the crisis because the country allegedly put pressure on Ukraine to close the borders. And he criticizes ultra-Orthodox politicians for not being able to help those who are stuck.

Israeli MP Yaakov Margi said that those who left for Belarus, knowing about the ban on entry to Ukraine, bear responsibility for the situation.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the embassies in Ukraine and Belarus are working with the authorities of both countries to provide humanitarian assistance to those waiting at the border. The ministry also noted that Ukraine had warned in advance about the ban on entry for pilgrims. They can return with a direct flight to Israel through Belarus, the Foreign Ministry added.

At the same time, Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri appealed to President Vladimir Zelensky with a request to allow pilgrims to travel to Uman. He noted that people were waiting at the border in “inhumane conditions” and asked that they be allowed in “taking into account emergency humanitarian reasons” and in full compliance with Covid-19 rules.

The Times of Israel, citing the Orthodox website Kikar Hashabbat, writes that Deri has spoken with Ukrainian officials in the past few days about how to resolve the issue with the pilgrims, but “the Ukrainians are not ready to let them in.”

On the subject: 'Religious exclusion': congressmen ask Ukraine to let the Hasidim from the USA into the country

There are exceptions

The mayors of two Israeli cities with the highest incidence of Covid-19 were able to fly to Uman to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, despite the fact that residents of their cities live under night curfews due to the spread of coronavirus, writes the Times of Israel.

Meir Rubinstein, mayor of the city of Beitar Illit, and Israel Porush, mayor of the city of Elada, both Breslov Hasidim, openly protested the curfew. Both cities are still in the “red” zone. The mayors left there a few days before a three-week lockdown was imposed, the publication writes.

Last week, restrictions due to the high number of infections were imposed in almost 40 Israeli cities, where about 1 people live. Most are home to a predominantly ultra-Orthodox or Arab community.

Both mayors previously signed a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of turning Orthodox communities into "enemies of the people" and vowing not to comply with the lockdown.

According to Haaretz, Rubinstein flew on the pilgrimage with his family, allegedly having received special permission from the Ukrainian authorities. There are no exact details about this. According to the source, he hopes to visit Uman unnoticed in order to thwart rumors that he has received a special permit to travel.

Some 2 Israeli pilgrims have reportedly made it to Ukraine for the current Jewish New Year celebrations, despite the restrictions.

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