Several injured
Migrants are said to have broken the border from Belarus to Poland
Polish policemen and border guards stand on the barbed wire as migrants from the Middle East and other countries make their way.
© Leonid Shcheglov / BelTA / DPA
According to a Polish media report, two large groups of refugees broke the border from Belarus to Poland on their hoped-for way to the EU. There are said to have been several injured.
According to the Polish media, two large groups of migrants crossed the border from Belarus to Poland on their hoped-for way into the EU. Several dozen migrants had managed to destroy fences near the villages of Krynki and Bialowieza and to cross the border, the Polish news agency PAP reported on Tuesday evening, citing the local broadcaster Bialystok. The station quoted a spokeswoman for the border guard that in both cases fences and barriers had been forcibly torn down.
Migrants with cuts
Some of the migrants have been returned to Belarus, while others are at large. Belarusian border guards released pictures of several people who were bleeding from their heads and hands. There were deep cuts in the palms of the hands after people tried to get over the barbed wire fences. They are Kurds. They said they got medical help. The night shots published in the morning by the authoritarian ex-Soviet republic could not be checked. Dozens of people were also shown waiting in tents and around campfires. A crying child could also be heard. Belarusian state propaganda accuses the Polish security forces of brutal actions against those seeking protection.
Thousands of Polish soldiers on the border
There are hundreds of people on the Belarusian side. According to the Polish authorities, the refugees had received food from Belarusian organizations, it said. The EU member Poland has stationed thousands of soldiers at the border to prevent the barbed wire from breaking through. The Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko called on Tuesday to let people through. They didn’t want to settle in Poland, but mainly in Germany, he said in an interview.
Controversial role of Lukashenko in the refugee dispute
The politician, decried as the “last dictator of Europe”, has a reputation for allowing people from crisis countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq to be flown in in order to smuggle them towards the EU border. Lukashenko had denied the allegations and held international smuggling networks responsible for organizing people’s trips. He again admitted that he would no longer stop migrants on their way to the EU.