June 12, Pozirk. Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has urged Warsaw to reconsider a 90-day ban on visiting border areas, which will come into force on June 13.
The ban was introduced in response to violent attacks on Polish border patrol personnel in the last two weeks.
Polish soldier Mateusz Sitek died on June 6 after being stabbed on duty while protecting the border from foreigners who tried to cross it illegally from Belarus.
Polish officials argued that restricted access would help ensure public safety and protect police officers, border guards and military personnel.
But MSF said it would make it difficult for civil society groups to provide assistance to people seeking protection.
“The impending enforcement of the buffer zone ranging from 200 metres to two kilometres . . . raises significant concerns,” it noted.
The move may cause “life-threatening consequences for those unable to receive necessary humanitarian and medical relief,” the group said, stressing “the critical necessity for civil society access.”
Humanitarian and civil society organizations must be allowed to operate independently, it added, recalling “the devastating consequences of restricted access in 2021,” in an apparent reference to an escalation of the migration crisis.
MSF urged Polish authorities to “ensure that all individuals in need can access asylum or protection procedures, humanitarian assistance, and medical care.”
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.
Illegal border crossings have been rising since February, reaching record highs in May, Pozirk’s analysis of daily stats showed. Over the past few weeks, Polish border guards reported more than 50 attacks at the eastern border.
