Crisis worsens on Poland-Belarus border as migrants congregate and troops are mobilized

In a follow-up assertion, Tokarczyk specified that there are presently round 4,500 border guards and about 9,500 Polish Army troopers stationed on the border as "a group of several thousand migrants is heading towards the Polish border."The Belarus State Border Committee, which is chargeable for the nation's exterior borders, stated the migrants close to the border need to enter Poland as refugees and don't pose a safety menace.

Border disaster spat

In one other tweet Monday, Poland's Defense Minister, Mariusz Blaszczak, stated 1000's of troopers have been "prepared to defend the Polish border.""More than 12,000 people are on duty at the border ... We raised the state of alert," Blaszczak wrote. Meanwhile, the Polish Territorial Defense Forces additionally stated in a tweet that it was elevating the alert degree to help the border guard, including: "Soldiers! Check your gear and communication equipment, let your employers and families know."

The Polish Ministry of Interior and Administration stated earlier on Twitter that migrants on the Belarus facet had to date been stopped on Monday and that the scenario in Kuznica is below management.It posted video displaying Polish police and different armed personnel standing close to a barbed wire fence, with the migrants on the Belarus facet. Meanwhile, an pressing authorities disaster assembly was convened amid the rising tensions, in response to the inside ministry.Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote on Facebook: "The border of the Republic of Poland is not just a line of a map. It is sacred -- the blood of Poles was spilt over generations to protect it!"Lithuania -- which shares a border with each Poland and Belarus -- stated it was redeploying troops as tensions proceed to escalate, in response to the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service and reported by LRT, the Lithuanian public broadcaster."We are preparing for all possible scenarios," the general public broadcaster quoted Rustamas Liubajevas, the top of Lithuania's border guard, as saying.

Exiled Belarusian opposition chief Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya urged a robust response from the EU and United Nations."Belarus' regime escalates the border crisis -- migrants are pushed to EU border by armed men," she tweeted. "The migrant smuggling, violence & ill-treatment must stop."

Belarusian response

Belarusian President Lukashenko's authorities has repeatedly denied manufacturing a migrant disaster, blaming the West for the crossings and remedy of migrants. CNN has reached out to the Belarusian authorities for remark.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday defended Minsk's dealing with of the migrant subject, saying Belarus was taking all crucial measures to behave legally.The Belarus State Border Committee additionally stated in a Facebook assertion: "Foreigners who are near the border with Poland declare their intention to enter the territory of a neighboring country and exercise their right to apply for refugee status in the EU. All of these people, including women and children, do not pose a security threat and do not behave aggressively."

The Belarus State Border Committee added it didn't rule out provocation from the Polish facet. "Taking into account the statements of Polish officials about the concentration of armed forces and equipment near the border, we do not exclude provocative actions by the Polish side aimed at justifying the use of physical force and special means against refugees."In a later assertion the Committee added: "The situation on the Belarusian-Polish border remains extremely tense. More than 2,000 refugees, including a significant number of women and children, are in front of the Polish barriers along the border ... Refugees repeatedly tried to inform the Polish side that they had left their countries because their lives were in danger."It then accused Polish safety forces of deploying tear fuel on the migrants and utilizing "aviation to exert psychological pressure," which led to a few of them attacking the Polish obstacles.Charities say migrants face grueling circumstances attempting to cross the border from Belarus in freezing climate with a scarcity of meals and medical consideration.Polish authorities stated seven migrants have been discovered lifeless on Poland's facet of the border, with reviews of more deaths in Belarus.Humanitarian teams additionally accuse Poland's ruling nationalists of violating the worldwide proper to asylum by pushing migrants again into Belarus as a substitute of accepting their purposes for cover. Poland says its actions are authorized.