Poland to End State of Emergency Along Its Border With Belarus Upon Completion of Wall

The decision of the Polish authorities to end the state of emergency follows the completion of the border wall with Belarus, which aims to stop the illegal movement of migrants, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.

Poland decided to build a wall on its border with Belarus earlier in 2021 as the country was registering large numbers of migrant arrivals. Most of the migrants that were reaching Poland through Belarus were nationals of countries in the Middle East.

During that time, migrants first entered Belarus and then tried to reach other countries that are part of the European Union, such as Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania. Thus, Poland decided to build a wall in order to prevent such illegal movements.

Info Migrants explains that since last summer Poland has restricted the rights of the majority of people entering the border area under emergency powers, including human rights activists and journalists. Even after the state of emergency is lifted, the authorities pointed out that they will continue to prevent people from getting within 200 meters of the border as this zone will remain restricted.

The same source reveals that the border wall along the border with Belarus, which runs more than 180 kilometres, will be topped with barbed wire. The wall encompasses the Bug River, which, apart from a series of lakes, covers part of the natural resources between Poland and Belarus.

The number of people attempting to cross the border from Belarus to Poland has increased significantly now that the temperatures have gotten warmer. The Polish border guard said earlier in April that a total of 103 individuals tried to enter Poland from Belarus only in one day. The majority of those that attempted to enter Poland were nationals of Jordan, Morocco, and Senegal.

The border guard further explained that people trying to enter Poland had not travelled directly from their country of origin to Belarus. They revealed that they were taking a new route via Dubai and Russia.

While the eastern border with Belarus continues to remain restricted, Poland has been taking in refugees from Ukraine since the beginning of the war.

Apart from Poland, Frontex previously said that Western Balkan countries had been highly affected by illegal border crossing. The data provided by Frontex shows that around 23,500 irregular border crossings were registered in May. Afghans and Syrians were the main nationalities to enter the EU illegally in the first half of the year.