The Minister of Defense of Poland stated on Monday (August 23) that Poland will build a fence along its border with Belarus and double the number of troops there to stop what the European Union says is a wave of immigration driven by Minsk in retaliation against EU sanctions. .
Poland and other EU member states, Lithuania and Latvia, reported a sharp increase in the number of immigrants from countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan trying to cross the border. The European Union stated that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is launching a “hybrid war” with immigrants to put pressure on the European Union.
Polish Minister of Defense Mariusz Błaszczak stated that a new 2.5-meter-high solid fence will be built on the border with Belarus.
At a press conference at the border, Błaszczak also stated that it would increase the military presence there.
“It is necessary to increase the number of soldiers… We will soon double the number of soldiers to 2,000,” he said.
The Polish government was severely criticized by human rights advocates because a group of migrants were trapped in the open air between the Polish and Belarusian border guards near the village of Usnarzgorny for two weeks.
Poland stated that allowing immigrants to enter Polish territory will encourage further illegal immigration and will also fall into the hands of Lukashenko.
“These are not refugees, they are economic migrants brought by the Belarusian government,” Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydac told reporters.
inhuman
Some lawyers and NGOs accused Warsaw of treating stranded migrants inhumanely by preventing them from entering the country.
The Polish Human Rights Ombudsman stated that the Border Guard would not accept verbal statements from some immigrants that they wanted to apply for international protection in Poland, which violated the Geneva Conventions.
Piotr Bystrianin of the Ocalenie Foundation, which helps refugees, said: “People are asking for protection from border guards, but the border guards keep them out.”
“This means that they have contact, which means that they should give them the possibility of applying for protection. … It’s very simple.”
Mahdieh Gholami, a translator who helped the Ocalenie Foundation, said that the Polish army hindered her efforts to communicate with migrants across the border.
“When I start to speak, the soldiers will turn on the engines,” she said.
The Polish Border Guard and the military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Lithuania said on Monday that it will complete the 508-kilometer fence along the border with Belarus by September next year.
