Poland has detained hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers stranded on its borders with Belarus amid very difficult humanitarian situation.
Poland has earlier deployed 3,000 more soldiers to strengthen the border as tension mount between the two countries
Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said that it was “not a calm night”. “Many attempts to breach the Polish border,” he said.
More than 2,000 asylum seekers and refugees remained on Poland-Belarus borders for several weeks. This came after Polish authorities refused to let them in.
Their numbers have unprecedentedly risen over the past few weeks amid tension between Belarus and Poland.
Poland says it has stopped attempts by the large group to enter the country. It further ccused Belarus of pushing migrants to the border.
The incident has led to international condemnation from the EU, US and NATO and renewed threats of sanctions.
The European Union (EU) must be “firm and united” against the “desperate and illegitimate” administration of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Ylva Johansson, the European Commissioner for home affairs, said.
Poland and other EU states accuse Belarus of encouraging the migrants and refugees to cross in revenge for Western sanctions on Minsk over President Alexander Lukashenko’s crackdown on dissent after last year’s disputed election.
