The body of a Syrian has been found in a river in the border region between Poland and Belarus. It's the eighth recorded migrant death since the beginning of the surge in arrivals. Meanwhile, Amnesty International and the Council of Europe have criticized EU member Poland for its treatment of migrants.
Food, a chance to warm up, charging one's phone – these are some of the things locals on the Polish side of the Poland-Belarus border are offering to migrants via the 'Green Light' initiative. Their houses are marked with a green light. Meanwhile, the situation of the some 15,000 migrants at the border is getting worse.
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has said Russia is likely behind a wave of illegal immigrants from Belarus. He also says the EU has much to do on migrant policy despite numbers being below those of 2015 and 2016.
The situation along the new migration route from Belarus into the EU is escalating, with the EU calling the Belarusian ruler Lukashenko a human trafficker. The tension could come at the expense of the thousands of migrants trying to enter EU territory. Meanwhile, Pro Asyl and Catholic charity Caritas warned of human rights violations at the Polish-Belarusian border.
Warsaw has deployed double the amount of troops at its border with Belarus in response to a surge in migration. Germany has also offered to assist Poland with guarding operations.
Demonstrators have gathered in Warsaw to show solidarity with migrants at the Poland-Belarus border who have been turned back by Polish authorities.
Poland's parliament on Thursday passed legislation allowing for migrants to be pushed back at the border. Meanwhile, another migrant has been found dead near the border – the seventh confirmed death in recent weeks.
Migrants and asylum-seekers in eastern Poland say they have been illegally pushed back to neighboring Belarus multiple times without due asylum process. DW reports on the humanitarian crisis from the border region.
The Polish parliament is debating a draft law which would allow the country to erect a wall on its border with Belarus. The wall is expected to cost a little over €353 million.
People from as far as Cuba are heading to Belarus to try to enter the European Union. But pushbacks and violence along the Polish border mean that fewer migrants are succeeding with their plans. The EU believes that Belarus is deliberately sending migrants across the border to destabilize the bloc.
Germany says the number of migrants arriving from Poland and Belarus has soared in recent months. The EU accuses Belarus of fueling mass migration, and Poland has said it will spend millions to build a wall.
German police are reporting a further increase in unauthorized entries of people from Iraq, Syria and other countries who cross into Germany via Poland from Belarus. Almost 400 people were apprehended on the German-Polish border this weekend, a new record.