Poland Has Blocked 600 Migrants From Crossing Border Illegally so Far This Year

KUZNICA, POLAND - JANUARY 13: A border guard officer stands guard next to a blockade at th
Omar Marques/Getty Images

Polish authorities say they have blocked around 600 migrants from crossing into their country illegally from Belarus so far this year as the number of attempts has decreased since last year.

Polish border guards state that since the start of the year they have stopped around 600 attempts by illegal immigrants to enter their country from Belarus.

The number of migrants attempting to cross into Poland illegally this year is a large reduction from the height of the crisis in October when an estimated 17,300 crossing attempts were recorded.

On Tuesday, the border guard released a statement on social media, revealing that they had arrested 32 migrants who had cut through the razor wire border barrier, stating that Belarusian forces helped the migrants tear down the fencing.

“People have been detained, including people from Egypt, Eritrea, Turkey and Yemen,” the border guard wrote.

On Wednesday, the border guard released another statement saying that a group of 30 migrants had attempted to cross the border, again aided by Belarusian forces. “They were detained – these are the people of Iraq, Guinea, Pakistan, Syria and India. A soldier was hit in the head by a rock. He is in the hospital,” the statement said. 

Since the crisis along the Polish-Belarusian border began last year, Polish authorities and others have routinely accused Belarusian forces of not only helping migrants cut through border barriers but even forcing them to cross the border at gunpoint

Former Belarussian ambassador and government minister Pavel Latushka, who fled the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko to Poland in 2020 for his own safety, claimed in November that Belarus was training Afghan and Iraqi fighters to carry out terror attacks in Europe as well. 

“According to reliable information. On the base of special forces in Opsa (a village in Belarus) has been prepared 2 groups from Iraq & Afghanistan with combat experience… Captured weapons from Afghanistan have already been delivered to Belarus by two IL-76 military aviation planes in early November,” Latushka said. 

Many of the migrants who did manage to enter Poland illegally had no intention of staying in the country, with over 11,000 arriving in Germany to claim asylum in 2021. 

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com

 

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