Polish authorities accused Belarus of trying to provoke a major confrontation on Monday (8), when images on social media showed hundreds of immigrants walking towards the Polish border.
In a video, shared by the Belarus blog NEXTA, migrants carrying backpacks and wearing winter clothes were seen walking along a highway.
Other videos showed large groups of immigrants sitting by the side of the road and being escorted by armed men dressed in khaki.
“Belarus wants to cause a major incident, preferably with fired bullets and casualties: according to media reports, they are preparing a major provocation near Kuznica Bialostocka that there will be a massive border crossing attempt,” said the deputy -Foreign Minister Piotr Wawrzyk to Polish public radio.
A deputy interior minister, Maciej Wasik, tweeted that “Polish authorities are ready for any scenario.”
The European Union accused Belarus of encouraging thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Africa to enter bloc countries via Belarus, as a form of hybrid war in revenge for Western sanctions against Minsk for human rights abuses.
The government of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has repeatedly denied the fabrication of an immigrant crisis, blaming the West for crossings and the treatment of migrants at the border.
Belarus’ state border committee issued a statement confirming that a large group of refugees was moving along the highway to the Polish border, and saying that Warsaw was taking an “inhumane attitude”.
The EU, the United States and the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on Belarus after Lukashenko unleashed a violent crackdown on mass protests after a contested election last year.
Charities say migrants face extreme conditions as they try to cross the Belarus border, facing freezing weather and lack of food, water and medical care.
Polish authorities say at least seven dead migrants were found on the Polish side of the border, with unverified reports of more deaths in Belarus.
Humanitarian groups accuse Poland’s ruling nationalists of violating international asylum law by pushing migrants back to Belarus instead of accepting their requests for protection. Poland says its actions are legal.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Facebook that “the Polish border is not just a line on the map. The border is sacred – Polish blood was shed for it!”.
Reference: CNN Brasil
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