Polish Border Guard Reports Rise In Forcible Border Crossings From Belarus

WARSAW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th October, 2021) Attempts at crossing the Polish border by force from Belarus are on the rise, Anna Michalska, the spokeswoman for the Polish Border Guard, said on Friday.

"We are witnessing now more attempts of forced border crossing. The groups are big, over 100 people. Such incidents took place yesterday as well. In (the village of) Narewka, 100 people tried to cross the border, and in (the village of) Kuznica 150," Michalska told reporters.

Polish border guards managed to prevent the groups from entering the country, Michalska said, adding that "these groups are organized by the Belarusian authorities."

Since the beginning of October, over 6,000 illegal border crossing attempts from Belarus to Poland have been recorded in Poland.

The total number of attempted crossings since early September exceeds 19,500, according to Warsaw.

Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland have repeatedly accused Belarus of facilitating the illegal border crossings. Poland declared a state of emergency in the border regions and deployed additional police and army forces to the area.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that his country could no longer hold back the migration to Europe due to a lack of money and manpower caused by EU sanctions. The Belarusian border guard has accused Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland of forcefully pushing migrants across the border into Belarus.