Poland (Washington Insider Magazine) -Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak announced on Aug. 23 that Warsaw intends to construct a fence along its border with Belarus to stem the flow of migrants, a move that is similar to neighboring Lithuania.
“A new 2.5-metre-(8.2-foot)-high solid fence will be built on the border with Belarus,” he said, per Reuters. Lithuania also confirmed on Aug. 23 that it would construct a 508-kilometer (315 mile) fence along its border with Belarus.
European Union (EU) countries like Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania have reported increases in the number of migrants from Iraq and Afghanistan attempting to cross into their territories from Belarus. The EU says the authoritarian leader of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has been waging “hybrid activities” with the EU via the migrants in retaliation to western sanctions that were imposed in early August.
Poland claims that 2,100 migrants have tried to enter illegally from Belarus in August, as reported by the Associated Press. Nearly 800 of them have successfully entered the country and have been placed in state-run centers.
Poland has recently come under fire from human rights advocates for its treatment of a migrant group trapped between the Belarus and Polish border village of Usnarz Gorny. Fundacja Ocalenie (Salvation Foundation) has said that the group, comprised of nearly three dozen Afghans, has been stuck at the border for nearly 12 days due to the political stand-off.
Piotr Bystrianin, President of Ocalenie’s management board, said in a statement that “in accordance with the law in force in Poland, each of these people should be allowed to submit an application for protection,” as reported by Euronews.
Mikolaj Pietrzak, a lawyer for the migrants in question, told Polish broadcaster TVN24 that the migrants are facing dire circumstances while being held at the border.
“The situation is horrible and I have no doubt that these people face cruel, degrading, inhumane treatment, and in some cases, it has to be called by its name: we are dealing with torture,” he said.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki noted on Aug. 19 that while his sympathies lay with the migrants, that they are “a tool in the hands of Mr. Lukashenko,” Euronews reported. Deputy Prime Minister Marcin Przydacz told reporters that, “These are not refugees, they are economic migrants brought in by the Belarusian government,” Reuters reported.
Poland’s Foreign Ministry on Aug. 23 said that it is inquiring about providing care for the migrants. It submitted a diplomatic notice to Belarus, offering to provide food and medicine for the migrant group, as well as tents, beds, sleeping bags, blankets, and pajamas, AP reported.
The EU discussed the situation in an Aug. 17 meeting of interior ministers. They decided to increase funding and the number border officers to Lithuania, RFE/RL reported.
NATO members in the Baltics and Poland will keep an eye on the Zapad 2021 military exercises that Belarus is holindg in three weeks. The exercises will feature nearly 13,000 troops and take place in Belarus. They are slated to take place from Sept. 10 to Sept. 16.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics underscored the converging crises of the migrant issue and Zapad 2021 military exercises.
“You have a border crisis, you have a major military exercise going on at the borders of NATO countries, you also have increased presence on our side, the Lithuanian side, Estonian side, and Polish side, of border guards and military formations. Of course, this is increasing the possibility of incidents,” he said.