At least 28 migrants attempted to illegally cross the Polish-Belarusian border on the first day of 2022, the Polish Border Guard revealed on Sunday.
The first incident was recorded in the village of Lipsk in the Podlaskie region of the country, where 12 Iraqi citizens attempted to rush Poland’s border defenses. Meanwhile, in Czeremsza, Polish guards were allegedly blinded by lasers operated by Belarusian forces as illegal migrants attempted to breach the European Union’s frontier.
In a social media post on Sunday, the Polish Border Guard wrote: “Yesterday (Jan. 1) 28 people tried to illegally cross the Polish-Belarusian border. At the Lipsk section, a group of 12 Iraqi citizens tried to reach Polish territory. At the Dubicze Cerkiewne section, Polish patrols were blinded by Belarusian services using lasers.”
In 2021, Poland’s Border Guard recorded close to 40,000 illegal attempts to cross the Polish-Belarusian border. In October alone, there were close to 18,000 attempted crossings, with 8,900 and 1,700 recorded in November and December respectively.
Tensions and illegal border activity continued throughout New Year’s Eve as 44 migrants attempted to cross into Poland over the course of the day. In several areas manned by Border Guard patrols, migrants were recorded attempting to destroy the barbed wire at the barricades.
The spokesperson for Minister-Special Services Coordinator, Stanisław Żaryn, also exposed on social media last week a disinformation campaign organized by Belarusian services and illegal migrants, which used children to promote slogans designed to pull on the heartstrings of the EU community.
Żaryn blasted the move, claiming it was an operation meant to create more pressure on Polish and EU authorities to agree to the creation of a migration route organized by the Lukashenko regime.
