Poland reports attempted border crossing by 150 refugees

A group of about 150 migrants tried in vain to cross border barriers from Belarus and enter the EU, according to the Polish Border Guard. The incident took place at night near the village of Dubicze Cerkiewne, the agency announced on Twitter on Monday."The attack on the Polish border was supervised by Belarusian security forces." Poland does not allow journalists into the area, so the information cannot be verified.

The European Union accuses Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko of bringing migrants from crisis regions to the EU's external border in an organized way to put pressure on the West. The people from Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan entered Belarus on tourist visas.

Poland's President Andrzej Duda told Sieci magazine that Lukashenko may be directing his action at Poland "because we defend the border fiercely, and the regime in Minsk cares about showing a physical confrontation with the West."

In Belarus, supplies to migrants at an emergency shelter in Brusgi on the border with Poland resumed in the morning. Images from the state agency Belta showed soldiers distributing hot tea, cookies, yogurt, and cottage cheese.

An estimated 2,000 people are using the warehouse as a temporary place to sleep. It is unclear how the migrants will be treated in the long term. Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) are currently in Belarus. They want to clarify how the WHO can help in the crisis. According to authorities, about 100 migrants have already been taken to hospitals, including people with pneumonia. Great is the concern about a Corona outbreak in the emergency shelter.