According to Polish border guards, there has been a spate of atrocities committed by illegal migrants arriving from Belarus. Most recently, the guards were pelted with stones and tree branches and, although there were no personal injuries, several vehicles were damaged.
Poland has built a fence on its border with Belarus in response to the influx of tens of thousands of migrants in 2021 and 2022, mainly from the Middle East and Afghanistan. Since then, the pressure has eased, but Polish border guards report dozens of daily incidents involving migrants trying to scale or cross the fence illegally. According to the officers, more than 11,000 people have tried to enter Poland so far this year and their numbers are growing, with up to 150 a day attempting to enter the territory of the Central European country. Last year, authorities registered 15,700 border crossing attempts, although this number exceeded 40,000 back in 2021. In addition, nationals from countries that authorities have encountered less frequently in the past are also seen in growing numbers. For instance "Yemen, Somalia, Mali, Gabon, Pakistan, Armenia, Kenya," a border police spokesman said, listing some countries of origin.
According to Warsaw, however, the method is the same: the waves of migrants continue to arrive at Poland's state border with the help of Belarusian authorities.
Authorities are not just trying to crack down on illegal border violators, but on people smugglers as well. Officers have arrested more than 350 people smugglers this year, compared to 401 last year.
Police give chase to people smugglers many times a week. Occasionally, the officers have to fire warning shots, which used to be quite rare,
– the spokesman for the border police explained.
Warsaw says it cannot rule out that the atrocities witnessed at the Poland-Belarus border are linked to the upcoming NATO summit, to be held in Vilnius in the middle of July. The Polish position is that Moscow and Minsk may attempt to disrupt the talks of the military alliance.
