Poland sees migrant border surge, accuses Belarus of ‘state terrorism’
SOKOLKA, Poland: Poland said it had seen a surge in attempts to breach its border and pushed back hundreds of migrants to Belarus, accusing Minsk of ‘state terrorism’ by provoking a new migrant crisis in Europe.
Concern was growing for more than 2,000 migrants – mainly Kurds from the Middle East – who are trapped at the border, with the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on Thursday over the issue.
Western governments accuse Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko of luring them to his country and sending them to cross into European Union and Nato member Poland in retaliation for EU sanctions.
“What we are facing here, we must be clear, is a manifestation of state terrorism,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters in Warsaw at a news conference with visiting EU chief Charles Michel.
Michel said new sanctions against Belarus ‘are on the table’.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said she expected “a widening of the sanctions” at the beginning of next week.
“This is the attempt of an authoritarian regime to try to destabilise its democratic neighbours. This will not succeed,” she said, speaking after a meeting with US President Joe Biden in Washington.
Migrants have been trying to cross the border for months but the crisis reached a new level when hundreds made a concerted effort on Monday and were pushed back by Polish borders guards.
They set up a camp on the border, sheltering in tents and burning wood from local forests to keep warm, blocked by Polish guards behind razor-wire.
Journalists and charity workers have been banned from the immediate border area by Polish authorities under state of emergency rules.
Poland has sent 15,000 troops to the border along with police and border guards, accusing Belarus of using intimidation to force migrants to breach the frontier.
Belarus has in turn accused Poland of violating international norms by blocking the migrants and violently beating them back.