Poland Closes Border Checkpoint as Tensions With Belarus Escalate Over Migration Policies

Poland closed its eastern border checkpoint Tuesday as hundreds of migrants tried to force their way into the country from Belarus, the latest of many attempts to illegally cross the border, the Associated Press reported.

Tensions between the countries have continued to grow not only as a result of the border patrol situation but because Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko encouraged migrants to illegally enter Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, their bordering European Union nations.

For months, thousands of migrants have attempted to illegally enter Poland, many getting stuck in a swampy forested area and pushed back and forth by Polish and Belarusian forces.

According to Major Katarzyna Zdanowicz from the region's border guards, about 3,000-4,000 migrants were along the border, including 800 in the vicinity of a large makeshift camp.

U.N. refugee agencies such as the UNHCR and International Organization for Migration called the situation "alarming," and said they have been in contact with the Polish and Belarusian governments asking that they ensure the migrants receive humanitarian care.

For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.

Polish authorities reported that the situation on the border—which is also the eastern border for the 27-nation European Union and NATO—was calm overnight and Tuesday morning, but after Monday's border scrum they said they were bracing for any possibility.

Poland's Defense Ministry said Tuesday that a large group of Belarusian forces was moving toward the migrants, who were camping out on the border.

There was no way to independently verify what was happening because journalists have limited ability to operate in Belarus and a state of emergency in Poland kept reporters and others out of the border area.

The EU reacted Tuesday by tightening visa rules for Belarus officials over what it's calling a "hybrid attack" by Belarus against the entire bloc. EU headquarters said it was "partially suspending" an agreement it has with Belarus that eases visa rules.

The move hits Belarusian government officials, lawmakers, diplomats and top court representatives. It increases travel red tape and requires them to provide extra documents and pay more for visas.

In videos posted on Twitter by Polish police, the migrants were camping out in tents and cooking over camp fires in near-freezing temperatures. The Polish police played an announcement warning the migrants that crossing the Polish border is only allowed at official border crossings, where visas are required.

One man who lives in Bialowieza, a Polish village in the restricted area, told AP that he has met many migrants and they are often very thirsty, hungry and in need of boots or medical care. He is among local volunteers providing food and other aid to the migrants and spoke on condition of anonymity because Polish authorities discourage such help.

"They are in really bad condition and the situation is getting worse" as the temperatures drop, he said.

He said some of the migrants are not aware of where they are, believing they are already in Germany and appeared to have been "very disinformed by Belarusian soldiers and guards." He said some were looking for taxis, unaware that no taxis are allowed in the closed zone. So far at least eight migrants have reportedly died in the difficult crossing.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, accompanied by Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak, went to the border on Tuesday morning to meet with border guards and other security officials. Morawiecki praised them and said: "We do not know what else Lukashenko's regime will come up with—this is the reality."

Meanwhile, Lithuania's government on Tuesday asked parliament to declare a state of emergency along the border with Belarus for a month beginning at midnight. It would reach five kilometers (three miles) inland, as well as in migrant accommodation facilities in Vilnius and elsewhere.

Poland has received strong signals of solidarity from the EU, other EU nations and the United States in the confrontation with Belarus. Analysts and some officials believe that Lukashenko is acting with the backing of Russia.

Germany's outgoing interior minister, Horst Seehofer, said all EU countries "must stand together, because Lukashenko is using people's fates—with the support of Russian President Vladimir Putin—to destabilize the West."

"The Poles are fulfilling a very important service for the whole of Europe," he said.

Many migrants have flown to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, on tourist visas, and from there travel by taxi to the border with Poland. The EU is seeking to pressure airlines not to facilitate such trips.

Although direct flights from Iraq to Minsk were suspended in August, migrants have been flying into Belarus via flights from Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and even Russia, according to recent internal EU migration reports seen by AP.

On social media, smugglers have advertised transportation from Belarus to Germany by car. Many of the migrants have ended up in Germany, but some traveled all the way to Finland by ferry.