Poland has expelled 10 foreigners from its territory, nine of whom were identified as posing a security threat to the state. Eight of them came from Georgia and two from Tajikistan.
One of the Tajikistanis was identified by the Polish Ministry of the Interior as “a potential terrorist from the Islamic State organization.” The suspected terrorist was wanted by Interpol, which had issued a red notice on him. The secret services reported that he was hiding under a false identity in central Poland and had been involved in terrorist activities for several years.
According to a spokesman from the border authority, the man had been active in armed conflicts in the Middle East and was also associated with members of the Islamic State Provincial organization Khorasan, who are under investigation for preparing terrorist actions in several European countries.
The Border Guard authority emphasized that “organizing return operations is a complex, multifaceted process which is one of the most effective ways of limiting illegal migration. Moreover, it is an important factor that discourages foreigners from abusing various legalization procedures, including, among others: procedures for applying for international protection.”
On Wednesday, the Border Guard also announced that in the last two days, 201 foreigners have attempted to cross the Belarusian-Polish border illegally. On Monday there were 68 attempts, and on Tuesday a further 123. Four Ukrainians were detained for smuggling a total of eight foreigners.
Border authority data shows that since the beginning of April, there has been a total of around 3,500 attempts to cross the border. In March, approximately 3,400 such cases were recorded — a considerable increase over January and February’s figures.
Migrants trying to get to Poland since the beginning of the year have come from a total of 30 countries.
