Poland: Large migrant group may enter from Belarus

Bloomberg

Polish officials warned of intensified tensions at its eastern border as hundreds of migrants gathering at the Belarusian side are expected to try to enter European Union country in one group.
“We’re now seeing the largest attempt of mass forced entry into Poland,” Stanislaw Zaryn, the spokesman for the country’s secret services chief, said on Twitter on Monday. He attached footage of what he said was a column of migrants approaching the
border.
In neighbouring Lithuania, which shares borders with both nations, officials echoed Poland’s concerns and flagged they may put the country on a state of alert, which needs parliamentary approval. Security at detention centers that house migrants will also be boosted.
So far, Poland has seen about 30,000 people attempt to illegally enter the country from Belarus, including 17,300 in October alone. The government has erected a barbed-wire fence on the border, declared a state of emergency in the region and sent thousands of troops to patrol the area.
Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Germany have accused Belarus of organising flights for migrants from central Asia and helping them cross the border in a
“hybrid attack” against the European Union.
While Poland’s government has been criticised by some humanitarian organisations and opposition parties for pushing the people back to Belarus, German authorities saw 1,500 illegal migrants — mainly from Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Iran and Afghanistan — entering the country in September and even more in October.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the exiled head of Belarusian opposition, blamed President Alexander Lukashenko for the escalation.
She called the “monstrous” scene near Polish border an “unprecedented provocation” aimed at punishing democratic countries and distracting their attention from what’s happening inside Belarus.
Lukashenko is seeking to keep power while threatening neighbours with a “humanitarian catastrophe,” she said in an emailed statement. “Our joint task is to stop him.”