A border wall established to keep migrants from entering Poland through Belarus has actually been completed after less than a year of construction. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko inspired migrants from the Middle East to cross into the European Union through the Polish-Belarusian border in 2021.
Countless migrants were refused entry into Poland and were likewise not allowed to go back to Minsk. The crisis lasted weeks and saw numerous violent efforts by the gathered mob of migrants to push through Polish border forces. An estimated 20 people passed away as a result of the freezing conditions.
The Polish federal government eventually allocated $350 million for the barrier, which covers around 116 miles. Construction started on Jan. 25, 2022. The wall will ultimately include technological tools to prevent border-crossers including cams and motion detectors.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and leading Polish security authorities went to the border location to examine the newly completed steel wall on June 30.
Moraweicki specified the task would, in part, support safeguarding his nation against Russia.
“The first sign of the war in Ukraine was [Belarus President] Alexander Lukashenko’s attack on the Polish border,” the prime minister said at a news conference on June 30.
“Warsaw authorities believe the Lukashenko regime used migrants as a tool to spark tensions since 2021, which saw tens of thousands mostly from Iraqi Kurdistan attempt to enter Poland, Lithuania and Latvia from Belarus,” reports Africa News.
Lukashenko is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his country has really dealt with a range of sanctions regarding the February invasion of Ukraine. Moraweicki implicated Putin in lagging the migrant crisis throughout an emergency parliamentary debate in November.
“Lukashenko is the executor of the latest assault, but this assault has a sponsor who is to be found in Moscow, and this sponsor is President Putin,” the prime minister said, per EuroNews. “The security of our eastern border is being brutally violated. This is the first such situation in 30 years when we can say that the integrity of our borders is being tested.”
Following Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, Poland accepted millions of Ukrainian refugees, per AP News.
“Human rights activists see a double requirement in the different treatment of the neighbouring Ukrainian refugees– fellow Slavs who are mainly Christian, female and white– and those from the far-off Middle East and Africa, a number of whom are Muslims and male,” reports Al Jazeera.
“If you give a lift to a refugee at the Ukrainian border you are a hero. If you do it at the Belarus border you are a smuggler and could end up in jail for eight years,” Natalia Gebert, the creator of Polish NGO Dom Otwarty which aids refugees, told the outlet.
Poland is expected to raise the state of emergency along the border on June 30.
H/T Timcast
