Poland-Belarus: Migrants resume attempts to breach border
The Polish border guard said it had recorded nearly 600 crossing attempts by migrants Tuesday, as well as “three large scale” efforts overnight into Wednesday, with more than 100 migrants in each group trying to breach the fence.
Nine people were detained and 48 people were immediately sent back to Belarus, a border guard press officer told reporters Wednesday. Polish defense minister Mariusz Błaszczak told Polish radio that there was still a substantial group of people on the Belarusian side of the Kuznica border crossing, which authorities closed on Tuesday. A Polish border guard representative previously told CNN that some of the migrants were pushed toward the barriers by Belarusian services.
In multiple videos from Polish authorities this week, hundreds of migrants were seen heading towards the border, some of whom were shown in one clip using shovels, wire cutters and brute force to try breach barriers.
Błaszczak added that a camp of migrants at Kuznica had also split off into smaller groups, without giving numbers.
Journalists and aid workers have been blocked from traveling to the area by an exclusion zone put into effect after Poland declared a state of emergency recently. Only local residents are permitted to enter the area after showing identification documents.
Several of those who live inside the zone told CNN the increased presence of military police and border guards has been noticeable and that they aren’t seeing more migrants than normal. Polish rights activists have said the additional troop deployment appears to have sealed the border near Kuznica as they haven’t received any calls from migrants seeking help in the last three days.
In an attempt to deter migrants, the Polish government has been sending text messages to foreign cell phone numbers in the border area which read: “The Polish border is sealed. BLR [Belarus] authorities told you lies. Go back to Minsk!” It ends by warning migrants against taking pills from Belarusian soldiers — referring to a claim from Polish officials that a migrant was given a tablet before falling ill and dying.
The press officer for the Polish border guard, Katarzyna Zdanowicz, said the situation in the Kuznica area was calm on Wednesday and that migrants had received hot food and drinks from Belarusian servicemen overnight.
Zdanowicz put the…
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