WARSAW, December 24 (RIA Novosti) - Fifty nine people from Russia's Chechen Republic have been detained in Poland as they attempted to illegally cross the country's border with Germany, a border guard service official said on Monday.
The official said that all 59 people, including 28 children, were detained on a passenger train en route from Warsaw to Berlin. The Polish border guards, he said, forced 35 people to leave the train, while their German counterparts detained the rest and returned them to Poland.
He also said that all the detained had been legally staying in Poland, which last Friday was accepted as a member of the Schengen visa zone, as they had previously requested refugee status in the country and the authorities were considering their application.
The official explained that the Russian citizens had the right to move freely around Poland while their applications were being considered, but that they were prohibited from leaving the country.
