Monday, November 8th, 2021
November balance sheet of the Federal Police
Almost 1000 illegal entries from Belarus
Hundreds of migrants crowd the Polish-Belarusian border and try to get to Europe. The area is declared a restricted zone. According to the federal police, illegal border crossings have been happening more and more frequently for months.
In the first week of November, the federal police registered 993 unauthorized entries via Belarus at the German-Polish border. In the current year, 8,833 people were identified, said the Presidium of the Federal Police in Potsdam. There are currently no signs of an easing of the situation. Since August there has been high pressure on the German-Polish border.
According to the information, only 26 illegally entered people with a connection to Belarus were identified between January and July, in August the figure was as high as 474. In October alone the number rose to 5285 people. In the area near the border, the Federal Police take so-called intensified search measures below the threshold of border controls.
Video footage published on the Internet showed hundreds of migrants moving towards the border into Poland on Monday. Polish border guards later posted pictures on Twitter of migrants trying to break through barbed wire fences. In response to EU sanctions, the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko declared in the spring that he would no longer stop migrants heading for the European Union. The EU accuses him of literally smuggling people from crisis areas.
Poland, Lithuania and Latvia are strengthening their external borders with Belarus. The majority of those entering via Belarus and Poland are from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Iran. The Polish border area with Belarus has been declared a restricted zone. Journalists and helpers are not allowed.
Activists send relief supplies
In view of the tense situation on the Polish-Belarusian EU external border, activists from Germany had sent a bus with relief supplies to the border area. The bus from the Seebrücke Deutschland and LeaveNoOneBehind initiatives is intended to bring warm winter shoes, socks, emergency blankets and headlamps to Poland.
The activists originally planned to bring migrants and refugees from Poland to Germany on their way back. The Seebrücke initiative announced that this would only be possible with a confirmation of admission from the Federal Ministry of the Interior. A request to this effect was sent to the ministry on Thursday, but has not yet been answered, according to the activists. According to their own information, they now gave the authority a deadline of Tuesday afternoon. “We expect an acceptance letter”, the situation in the border area is “a single catastrophe”.
A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior informed the German Press Agency on Friday that “unauthorized transport and any unauthorized entry” could result in criminal consequences. In addition, there are no considerations for an admission program for people from Belarus.