Ice and snow already cover much of the border areas between Belarus and Poland. Even in one of the nearest cities to the border, Biaylstok, temperatures are predicted to stay below freezing day and night for the next few days. At night, it can be as low as minus 15 degrees Celsius in this region.

It is in these conditions that the news agency Reuters reported that the four-year-old Iraqi girl was separated from her parents during a "scuffle with Polish border guards." "This girl is probably either already dead or will die very soon," Kasia Kosciesza from the Families without Borders charity, which works with migrants in Poland, told Reuters.

Kosciesza said that she feels that if a four-year-old Polish child had gone missing in such conditions, "the whole country would be looking for her." By Wednesday, Kosciesza was extremely worried, with every hour that passes, she felt "chances are diminishing, night is setting in again and temperatures will start falling, so if we want to rescue her, it needs to happen immediately."

Search begun but still missing

The Polish Border Guard say they already began searching for the girl on Tuesday at midday, when they were informed of what had happened. A spokesperson for the border guard Anna Michalska said that "extra patrols were directed to the area where the girl was supposed to be. We also searched from the air using helicopters, but we found no one."

According to Reuters, who quoted humanitarian groups as their source, the little girl was handed to another adult migrant during the scuffle with the guards. The parents were pushed back to Belarus by the guards. The girl was last seen, reports Reuters "with the person accompanying her near the Polish frontier village of Nowy Dwor."

Local humanitarian groups though say the authorities are not doing enough. Because of the continuing state of emergency declared at the border, activists who are not resident in the restricted border zone are not allowed to enter it to help with any organized search.

'Concerns growing'

On Thursday, December 9, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Poland reported that "concerns were growing" for the little girl, who is reportedly called Eileen. According to Al Jazeera, her parents were so tired after crossing into Poland that they asked one of their companions to carry their daughter when "a Polish border guard patrol appeared and the group dispersed."

Al Jazeera also reports that Eileen’s parents were "allegedly pushed back by Polish authorities, but there was no sign of their daughter." The couple told Al Jazeera that they told border guards their daughter was missing but, according to them "the guards did not react to the news."

The news was first reported via a coalition of 14 NGOs, Grupa Granica, which runs a hotline for migrants. Grupa Granica, reports Al Jazeera, then alerted the Polish Red Cross, which, among other tasks, works on reuniting separated families.

Polish Red Cross

However, according to Marysia Zlonkiewicz, an activist with Grupa Granica, who spoke to Al Jazeera, the Polish Red Cross replied that the parents themselves had to file a request in the Belarusian capital Minsk.

Grupa Granica then informed the Polish Ombudsman, who advocates for citizens' rights, knowing they would then then inform the border guard.

A search was initiated, but according to Al Jazeera, seems to have been called off shortly after after no child was found in the area monitored by the border guard. Al Jazeera wrote that they had not yet received a comment from the border guard, despite requesting one.

At least 12 migrants have died in the border region since the summer. Local NGOs and activists hope that Eileen’s name will not be added to that list.