The Polish parliament gave its approval in the early hours of today in order to extend for another sixty days the state of emergency imposed on the Polish-Belarusian border, where there are increased migratory flows.
The government’s request, already approved by the presidency, was supported by 237 right-wing and nationalist lawmakers, with 179 members voting against and 31 abstaining. The vote was broadcast live on Polish television.
Warsaw accuses Russia and Belarus of being behind the migration wave. The European Union (EU) has seen an increase in the flow of migrants in retaliation for sanctions imposed on it by the Minsk regime to suppress Belarussian opposition.
Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski has called for an extension of the 30-day state of emergency that was initially imposed along the Polish-Belarusian border, arguing that among those crossing the border are people linked to “radical or criminal organizations”.
According to the minister, 11,500 “attempted to cross the border” since the beginning of the year. More than 1,500 migrants and refugees have been arrested in Poland.
Mr Kaminski met on Monday in Warsaw with European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ilva Johnson.
Polish NGOs warn of impending humanitarian crisis on the EU’s eastern border, where six people have already died from cold, starvation and exhaustion.
NGOs, as well as the center-left and left-wing opposition, accuse the government of obstructing aid agencies from helping migrants by denying access to the border zone to anyone who does not live in it, including journalists.
Critics of the government’s actions speak of a policy of deportation, preventing immigrants from applying for asylum and forcing them to return to Belarus.
Images of women and children being repatriated by police at the border amid the cold and rainy autumn weather were broadcast or published yesterday by several independent Polish media outlets.
THE Amnesty International, a non-governmental organization, complained on Thursday that Poland had made illegal deportations in late August (24747732).
Most of the irregular migration to the EU takes place through the Mediterranean. Current flows are unprecedented for its eastern Member States, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
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