Poland says this is necessary to stop more people from coming. Human rights groups say Poland has exacerbated the suffering by sending back those who try to cross. The accusation by Poland suggests the crisis has not been resolved by an apparent change of tack by Minsk, which on Thursday had cleared the main camps by the border and allowed the first repatriation flight to Iraq in months.Īid groups say at least 11 asylum seekers and refugees have died on both sides of the border since the crisis began earlier this year – although the real number is believed to be higher – as concerns grow for people’s wellbeing amid freezing winter conditions. The guards said they had arrested 45 people.Īl Jazeera, like all other media, is unable to independently verify claims about activity on the border as Poland has banned reporters from accessing the 3km (2 miles)-wide zone. Polish border guards on Friday said there were attempted crossings from Belarus by two groups of migrants and refugees on what is the eastern border of the European Union and NATO – one involving 500 people, some of whom threw rocks and tear gas canisters, aided by Belarusian authorities. “But I didn’t invite them here,” he said. Our troops know the migrants are going to Germany … Maybe someone helped them,” he told the BBC. Belarus has denied the claim, instead criticising the EU for shutting its borders.Īsked if Belarus was helping refugees and migrants try and cross into Poland, Lukashenko said: “I think that’s absolutely possible. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said it was “absolutely possible” his forces helped people cross into the European Union, but denied inviting them to the country.Įuropean governments have accused Belarus of artificially creating the crisis by bringing in people from abroad and taking them to the border with promises of an easy crossing into the bloc.