Warsaw, Poland
Reuters
—
More than 180 migrants crossed into Poland through a tunnel hidden in a forest on the border with Belarus, frontier guards mentioned on Friday.
Around 130 of them have been detained in Poland after the passage was found on Thursday, however the remaining have been nonetheless on the run, the Polish Border Guard mentioned in a press release.
It launched video of the tunnel dug through roots and naked earth, supported by wood posts and metallic rods and simply 1.5 meters (5 ft) excessive – not sufficient for most individuals to move through with out crouching.
European Union member Poland has been grappling with a migrant crisis on its border with Belarus since 2021.
It has accused Belarus and Minsk’s ally Moscow of plotting to destabilize Poland by encouraging individuals, primarily from the Middle East and Africa, to cross the frontier.
Belarus and Russia have repeatedly dismissed these accusations.
The border guard mentioned it was the fourth tunnel it had found within the western area of Podlaskie this yr.
Guards additionally detained a 69-year-old Pole and a 49-year-old Lithuanian who had arrived to choose up the migrants, it added.
The “hidden entrance in the forest was located approximately 50 meters (from the border fence) on the Belarusian side of the border, while the exit was located approximately 10 meters from the barrier on the Polish side,” the Border Guard mentioned.
Officers used digital methods to work out how many individuals handed through, and military and police had joined the seek for the lacking migrants, it added.
Poland began work on its 180km (110-mile) border fence in 2022.