In this Aug. 19 file photo, migrants are seated, after crossing the border from Belarus into Poland in the village of Usnarz Gorny, Poland. AP-Yonhap
In this Aug. 19 file photo, migrants are seated, after crossing the border from Belarus into Poland in the village of Usnarz Gorny, Poland. AP-Yonhap


Poland on Tuesday was set to declare a state of emergency along its border with Belarus after a large influx of migrants, which Warsaw suspects is being engineered by the regime in Minsk.

The state of emergency would apply for 30 days and would include a ban on any demonstrations at the border as well as an obligation for people in the area to carry identity documents.

The government approved the measure, which is now expected to be signed off by President Andrzej Duda in the coming hours and then needs final approval from the parliament.

In this Aug. 19 file photo, migrants are seated, after crossing the border from Belarus into Poland in the village of Usnarz Gorny, Poland. AP-Yonhap
Polish soldiers build a fence on the border between Poland and Belarus near the village of Nomiki, Poland, Aug. 26. Reuters-Yonhap


According to analysts, the state of emergency would also enable the government to limit border access for reporters ― and for NGOs helping the migrants, who have accused Polish guards of pushing migrants back towards Belarus.

“The situation on the border with Belarus is a constant crisis,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters.

“That is why we have decided to propose this solution to the president,” he said.

Duda said it was “necessary to tighten the border”.

In this Aug. 19 file photo, migrants are seated, after crossing the border from Belarus into Poland in the village of Usnarz Gorny, Poland. AP-Yonhap
Protesters chain themselves to the fence surrounding the headquarters of Poland’s Border Guards to protest the government’s refusal to let in a group of illegal migrants, in Warsaw, Aug. 23. The group of migrants have been stuck in the open air at the border with Belarus for two weeks. AP-Yonhap


‘Hybrid attack’

Thousands of migrants ― mostly from the Middle East ― have crossed over from Belarus into the three eastern EU member states of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland in recent months.

The European Union believes the migrants are being directed into the EU as a form of retaliation by Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko against increasingly stringent EU sanctions on his country.

Poland has called the move a “hybrid attack” on the whole bloc, has sent 2,000 troops to assist its border guards and built a barbed wire fence along the border.

Morawiecki on Tuesday said Lukashenko was trying “to introduce a destabilizing element on the territory of our countries”.

The case of a group of around 30 migrants believed to be from Afghanistan and stranded on the Poland-Belarus border for more than three weeks in a makeshift encampment has divided Poland.

The government has pursued a tough line, preventing them from entering the country and making asylum claims.

But its approach has been heavily criticized by the liberal opposition, non-governmental organizations and the Catholic Church. (AFP)


Poland to declare emergency over migrants on Belarus border
Source: Buhay Kapa PH