UN refugee agency alarmed by migrants at Poland-Belarus border

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Polish policemen watch migrants at the Belarusian-Polish border, November 8, 2021. /CFP

The UN refugee agency UNHCR on Tuesday expressed concern about hundreds of migrants camped out near the Belarus border with Poland and called for an end to vulnerable people being used as political pawns.

"We are very alarmed by the scenes that we are seeing from the Belarus-Poland border," UNHCR spokesperson Shabia Mantoo told a UN briefing, adding that the agency was particularly worried about the fate of women and children in the region.

Poland has accused Belarus of trying to spark a major confrontation by encouraging the migrants to cross into Poland and the European Union.

Around 2,000 migrants have gathered at the border and are trying to enter the European Union, a spokesperson for the bloc's executive commission said on Tuesday, adding they're ready to provide assist to Poland at short notice if asked by the government in Warsaw.

Earlier on Tuesday, EU governments partially suspended a visa facilitation deal for Belarusian officials in response to what they call an "ongoing hybrid attack" launched by Minsk.

The EU accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of orchestrating the crisis in retaliation for Western sanctions on Minsk, charges that he denies.

A tractor loader operated by Polish service members is seen behind a barbed wire fence, as hundreds of migrants gather on the Belarusian-Polish border in an attempt to cross it in the Grodno region, Belarus, November 9, 2021. /Reuters

Belarus's defense ministry has called the EU allegations "unfounded and unsubstantiated" and said that Poland is "deliberately" escalating tensions by military deployment at the border without notification.

"We would like to warn the Polish side in advance against any provocations directed against the Republic of Belarus to justify illegal use of force against disadvantaged, unarmed people, among whom there are many children and women," Belarus's foreign ministry also said in a statement.

In light of the border event, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with Lukashenko on Tuesday and "exchanged opinions on the situation with refugees" on the border, Kremlin said.

Belarusian Telegraph Agency said during the discussion, the two presidents expressed concern about deployment of regular troops of Poland on the border.

Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has called on all sides to act responsibly.

(With input from Reuters and AFP)

Source(s): Reuters

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