Poland Claims Russia And Belarus Behind 'Well-Directed Action' to Send Migrants Over EU Border
13:22 GMT 20.09.2021 (Updated: 10:51 GMT 06.04.2023)
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Four people were found dead at the weekend close to border between Poland and Belarus, with exhaustion and hypothermia to blame. Seven other migrants stuck in a marsh were taken to hospital suffering from exhaustion.
Poland has accused Russia and Belarus of encouraging thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Afghanistan to head for the European Union - especially Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said: "We're dealing with a mass organised, well-directed action from Minsk and Moscow. It's clear that on the Belarusian side, on the Russian side - because probably nobody believes that this is an independent action by Lukashenko - there is great determination and tens of thousands of people have already been brought to Belarus.”
Morawiecki, who blamed visa-free travel from the Middle East and Africa, said up to 7,000 migrants had been seen approaching or crossing the border since the start of August.
But he produced no evidence that Belarus and Russia were deliberately encouraging migrants to come to Minsk and Moscow in the hope they will travel on to EU countries.
The governments of Belarus and Russia have not commented yet on the claim.
Morawiecki claimed it was a “hybrid war” launched by Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko in retaliation for EU sanctions. The Polish prime minister claimed illegal immigration to the EU was a form of “pressure.”
Earlier this monthб Poland took the exceptional step of banning journalists and any other non-residents from visiting the border area.
Belarusian opposition figure Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya attends a meeting with German Federal Government's Commissioner for Culture and the Media Monika Gruetters (not pictured) during 'Berlinale Summer Special' film festival in Berlin, Germany June 11, 2021.
© REUTERS / POOL
It was the first time such a measure has been deployed since the fall of the communism in Poland.
The Polish government has sent 1,500 troops to the border and also begun work on a barbed wire fence along the frontier.
The Polish government has sent 1,500 troops to the border and also begun work on a barbed wire fence along the frontier.
EU governments imposed sanctions on Belarus after protests erupted there last year following Lukashenko’s victory over Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya, who wanted to realign Minsk away from its traditional ally, Moscow.
Tsikhanouskaya, who now lives in self-imposed exile in Warsaw, met US President Joe Biden at the White House in July.
