Standoff On Belarus-Poland Border As Stance Hardens Toward ‘Weaponized’ Migrants
A group of migrants apparently shipped to the border of the European Union by Belarusian authorities is stranded in no man's land as Polish police prevent them from stepping foot on EU soil.
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A migrant on the border with Belarus on August 23. The man is part of a group of migrants claiming to be from Afghanistan caught in a bizarre standoff between Polish and Belarusian border guards.
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The group of migrants, photographed between an armed Polish serviceman (in foreground) and Belarusian police. The standoff comes amid a surge in mostly Middle Eastern migrants entering the EU illegally from Belarus. European authorities accuse Minsk of deliberately engineering the crisis as a reaction to sanctions imposed by the EU since Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka's crackdown began following a disputed election one year ago.
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Polish border police face off against their Belarusian counterparts (right), with the migrants stranded in the middle. The group has reportedly been stranded in the open near the Polish village of Usnarz Gorny for two weeks. Temperatures in the area have dropped to around 10 degrees Celsius on recent mornings.
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Migrants gather near a fence at a temporary detention center in Kazitiskis, Lithuania, on August 12.
The stalemate on the Poland-Belarus border follows Lithuania's decision in early August to physically force migrants back into Belarus after more than 4,000 illegally entered that Baltic country from Belarus in the space of a few months in 2021.
The stalemate on the Poland-Belarus border follows Lithuania's decision in early August to physically force migrants back into Belarus after more than 4,000 illegally entered that Baltic country from Belarus in the space of a few months in 2021.
