Poland to build fence, double troop numbers on Belarus border to halt flow of Middle East migrants
- Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have reported increases in migrants from countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan trying to cross their borders
- Poland said allowing the migrants to enter Polish territory would encourage illegal migration and play into Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s hands
Poland will build a fence along its border with Belarus and double the number of troops there, the defence minister said on Monday, to halt a flow of migrants the European Union said is being driven by Minsk in retaliation for EU sanctions.
Poland and fellow EU states Lithuania and Latvia have reported sharp increases in migrants from countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan trying to cross their borders. The EU said Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is waging “hybrid warfare” with migrants to exert pressure on the bloc.
Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said a new solid fence, 2.5 metres (8.2 feet) high, would be built on the border with Belarus.
At a press conference at the border Blaszczak also said the military presence there would be increased.
“It is necessary to increase the number of soldiers. We will soon double the number of soldiers to 2,000,” he said.
Poland’s government has come under sharp criticism from human rights advocates over the plight of a group of migrants trapped for two weeks in the open between Polish and Belarusian border guards near the village of Usnarz Gorny.