Migrants massed by Belarus’ security services for storming Polish border – ByPol

May 9, Pozirk. Alaksandar Łukašenka’s security services are massing migrants, expecting them to storm the Polish border soon, the ByPol association of former law enforcers reported, citing its sources.

The migrants are being secretly transported to Belarusian areas, it said.

“Riot police officers transport migrants from Minsk at night in civilian cars,” ByPol said. “Migrants, including women, are sorted into groups of 25-30 people. Most of them are Muslims who have relatives in Warsaw, Berlin or Brussels.”

“Riot police officers are strictly forbidden to extort money from them because Minsk has already received its share for the transfer. Some carry up to €20,000, are well equipped, have GPS navigators and expensive equipment bought in Minsk. Each group of illegal migrants has a leader who is in contact with the commander of the border or riot police shift,” the report said.

According to ByPol, riot police officers wearing plain clothes participated in migrants’ clashes with Polish border guards before.

The group also claimed that riot police officers “receive two to three weeks of training” from Wagner mercenaries at a training ground of 5th Special Forces Brigade (Marjina Horka, Minsk region). Then they go to the Smarhoń district, Hrodna region, to patrol the border with Lithuania.

“It is possible that after the publication of this information the section of the attack will be changed,” ByPol noted.

The migration crisis at the Belarusian-EU border started in spring 2021 after Alaksandar Łukašenka, angered by EU sanctions, had indicated that Minsk would not prevent migrants from Africa and Asia from using Belarus as a route to the EU. It escalated in November 2021, with hundreds of migrants storming the Polish border.

In June 2021, the Belarusian government announced the suspension of a readmission agreement with the EU in response to sanctions that followed the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk.

Pozirk’s analysis of daily stats indicated fluctuated tension at the Belarusian-EU border throughout 2023 with illegal border crossings picking up the pace in February.

The Baltic states and Poland accused Belarusian authorities of creating the trouble, while the latter blamed it on the West.

In August 2023, the interior ministers of Poland and the Baltic States warned that they would close the border with Belarus in response to a surge in illegal migration.

Also read: Poland stops over 10,000 illegal entry attempts from Belarus this year