Poland Accuses Belarus of Masterminding Migrants’ Actions
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Poland defames Belarus for changing its tactics in dealing with the border crisis between the two countries after Polish border guards noticed that the migrants are using slightly different methods.
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Poland accuses Belarus of planning refugee waves and facilitating their crossing toward the border.
Poland said on Saturday that migrants are still trying to storm the Belarusian-Polish border overnight.
“There were attacks on the Polish border. Now, migrants use slightly different methods. Smaller groups of people try to force the border in multiple spots," Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said.
Blaszczak told Polish radio station RMF FM that the actions of migrants were being masterminded by the Belarusian security forces; an accusation that goes along with the EU narrative.
In its turn, Belarus denied the allegations and criticized the EU for not receiving the migrants.
On his account, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said it was "absolutely possible" that his forces assisted migrants in crossing into Poland but denied that Minsk could have been the mastermind, according to BBC.
De-escalation, a rally, and a funeral
Several hundred people were repatriated to Iraq this week, while 2,000 others left a makeshift border encampment for a nearby warehouse, indicating that the crisis was easing.
Earlier, Poland’s border guards said that eighty-two foreigners were ordered to leave Polish territory, pointing out that two Ukrainian citizens and one German were detained for charges of aiding and abetting.
On her part, the Council of Europe's Human Rights Commissioner Dunja Mijatovi described the humanitarian situation along the border as "alarming" and demanded an end to Poland's contentious return of migrants to Belarus.
In a statement, she added, “I have personally listened to the appalling accounts of extreme suffering from desperate people... who spent weeks or even months in squalid and extreme conditions in the cold and wet woods due to these pushbacks.”
“All pushbacks must end immediately,” she said.
Furthermore, Polish mothers have reportedly planned a rally for migrant rights, on Saturday, in the eastern town of Hajnówka.
According to Polish media, at least 11 people have died since the crisis began this summer.
This week, Poland held a funeral for a Syrian teenager who drowned in the Bug River near the border, and two other funerals are scheduled for the weekend.
Poland has also warned that the migrant crisis with Belarus may last for months or years, but the Belarusian President stressed that he wants to avoid turning the crisis into a confrontation.
