There have already been hundreds of recorded attempts by illegal migrants to cross the Polish-Belarusian border in 2022 and the numbers do not appear to be slowing down, the Polish Border Guard has confirmed.
The Border Guard reported that 49 migrants had attempted the journey on Sunday, with 68 more individuals trying their luck to cross the border on Monday and Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for the state security agency tasked with patrolling Poland’s external border, lieutenant Anna Michalska, warned that all data shows a real likelihood that there will be more planned attempts by illegal migrants to enter Poland in the coming days. She added that the route for transporting migrants to the Polish border often now leads from Russia.
This was the case with two Cuban citizens who managed to reach Poland through Belarus on Monday. The two men, aged 47 and 35, crossed into Poland near the Terespol Border Guard unit using the spans of a border bridge. According to the Border Guard, they traveled from Cuba to Russia and then on to Belarus, where they resided legally. They had planned to reach Spain from Poland but were stopped by a Border Guard patrol and sent back to the borderline.
Meanwhile, an attempt to forcibly breach the border occurred recently near the Border Guard unit in the village of Mielnik. On Monday morning a number of individuals were recorded throwing rocks and wood at Polish officers, using lasers to blind them; three illegal migrants managed to reach Polish territory, but were quickly detained and returned.
In the same area on Tuesday, a group of 18 migrants, all of whom were Iraqi citizens, cut through a barbed wire fence and entered Poland. They too were detained and returned to the borderline.
In Michałów, 14 Iraqi and 2 Turkish nationals were spotted on surveillance footage attempting to breach the border and were caught by a nearby Border Guard unit.
Despite the new year still being in its infancy, there have already been 307 recorded attempts to illegally cross the Polish-Belarusian border, with no suggestions that attempted crossings will slow down.
Last year, the Polish Border Guard reported a total of 39,700 attempts to illegally cross the border. October was the most popular month, when 17,500 recorded attempts were made; November witnessed 8,900 attempts with September a close third with 7,700 reported trips.
