Poland stated that Belarus has changed its strategy of dealing with the border crisis and now directs smaller groups of people to multiple locations on the eastern border of the European Union.
Despite the signs of a easing of the crisis, Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said he expects the border showdown to continue for some time.
The Polish Border Guard reported that several groups, mainly composed of dozens of people, tried to cross the border, despite the fact that a crowd of 200 people threw stones and used tear gas.
“We must be prepared for the fact that this problem will last for several months. I have no doubt that this will be the case,” Błaszczak told the commercial RMF FM radio station.
“Now immigration and Belarusian service agencies have adopted some new methods…In many places, small-scale people are trying to cross the border,” he said.
He added, “There is no doubt that these attacks were directed by the Belarusian service agency”.
The West accuses Belarus of artificially creating a crisis, bringing people (mainly from the Middle East) to the border, and promising easy entry into the European Union.
Belarus denied this claim and instead criticized the EU for not accepting immigrants.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told the BBC on Friday that his troops are “absolutely possible” to help people enter the European Union, but denied planning the operation.
“We are Slavs. We have a heart. Our troops know that the immigrants are going to Germany… Maybe someone helped them,” he said. “But I didn’t invite them to come here.”
This week there are signs that the crisis is fading after hundreds of people have been repatriated to Iraq, while another 2,000 people have left the temporary border camp to a nearby warehouse.
Polish border guards said there were 195 attempts to cross the border illegally on Friday.
“Eighty-two foreigners were ordered to leave Polish territory. Two Ukrainian citizens and a German citizen were detained for aiding and abetting,” the guard wrote on Twitter on Saturday.
They added that in the eastern village of Dubicze Cerkiewne, the border zone guarded by the force had repeatedly tried to cross the border.
The guard said on Twitter: “The largest group consisted of about 200 foreigners, with dozens of others each.” “Foreigners are aggressive-they throw rocks, firecrackers and use tear gas.”
Many people who wish to reach the European Union have spent thousands of dollars flying to Belarus on tourist visas, hoping to transit.
Friday, the council Europe Human Rights Commissioner Dunja Mijatović called the humanitarian situation along the border “worrisome” and demanded that Poland stop disputed migrants from returning to Belarus.
She said: “I have personally heard the horrible accounts of desperate people suffering extreme pain…Because of these resistance, they spent weeks and even months in the dirty and extreme conditions in the cold and humid woods.”
“All resistance must end immediately.”
Polish mothers plan to hold a rally for the rights of immigrants in the eastern town of Hajnówka on Saturday.
Polish media said that since the beginning of the summer crisis, at least 11 people have died.
Poland held a funeral for a Syrian teenager who drowned in the Burg River on the border-two other funerals are planned for the weekend this week.
