Cuban migrants in Belarus ask María Elvira Salazar for help

Cuban migrants stranded in Belarus asked Republican Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar for help on Friday to resolve their difficult situation at the Belarusian border. 

"I would like to send a message to Maria Elvira Salazar. Please, if she could intercede with the government, with the European Union, we are desperate. This is a life or death situation. Tomorrow, we don't know where we will be," said Rafael Gonzalez, spokesman for the Cubans in Belarus.

Gonzalez told ADN Cuba that the possibility of migratory regularization has become more complex.

"We cannot return to Moscow or Russia, and we have had no support from government institutions," he said.

One of the members of the group is a one-month-old who, although born in Russia, has no legal papers.

Ernesto Soberón, Director General of Consular Affairs and Cubans Residing Abroad (Daccre) said on March 14 that the Cuban embassy in Warsaw is working to “identify” the 35 Cubans who are stranded at the border between Poland and Belarus.

"Our embassy in Warsaw is in contact with the Polish Border Police to identify the 35 Cuban citizens who are at the border between Poland and Belarus," Soberon commented on his official Twitter on March 13.

According to the Cuban regime official, the Cuban embassy in Poland "will maintain the exchange with the Polish authorities to obtain the requested information on the situation of these Cubans."

"Our consular office in Warsaw will continue to provide consular assistance to our nationals," Soberón concluded. Yet, Rafael Gonzalez, one of the Cubans in the group told ADN in an interview that Cuban authorities have not tried to contact them and help. 

The number of Cubans at the Polish border coming from Russia increased to 35, according to Diario de Cuba.

The Cuban migrants left Russia because they claimed that the situation in the country has become complicated. They added that there is no work, banks have closed, and they feared for their lives as war tensions rose. 

There are three minors in the group. Initially, there were 11 migrants, but others have joined them between 20 and 50 years of age. However, they claim that they do not intend to return to the island, from where they escaped due to the acute political, economic, and social crisis on the island.

The group also claimed that up until they remained in the forest, only the minors had received medical attention and food.

Before they found shelter, the adults spent 11 days with "no food, no water, no blankets to cover themselves, and the temperatures are below zero... González Simón, the group's spokesman, told the press. "And we continue to resist until we collapse or I don't know what will happen," he added.

The group is now hiding in an unknown location where they are receiving assistance from a good samaritan. There is a one-month-old baby in the group, they revealed. 

On the other hand, they cannot apply for political asylum because of the language barrier with Polish officials at the border.

"We have the right to apply for asylum at any border, even at the Polish border, but the military is not bringing the Immigration Police to us. They are not looking for any government representative or anyone, not even a translator. The only help they are giving us is to give some food to the children... sharing the soldiers' breakfast on the sly. But they are not even looking for us, not even the Red Cross. It is impossible to ask for asylum like this," said González Simón.