WARSAW, Sept 10 (Askume) – Poland’s interior ministry said on Tuesday it would extend the implementation of a buffer zone on its border with Belarus for another 90 days, adding that the measure had effectively reduced illegal immigration.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s pro-European coalition government reestablished the no-go zone along the 60-kilometre (37-mile) border in June after a surge in the number of migrants trying to cross the border and violence that followed, including the killing of a soldier at the border .
The border has been a point of contention since migrants began arriving there in 2021, with Belarus, a close ally of Russia, reportedly taking over travel agencies in the Middle East to provide a new informal route to Europe – a move the EU is aiming to achieve.
“Concrete, positive results have been achieved in the field,” Interior Minister Tomasz Simoniak said in a statement. “The main objective is to prevent smugglers from entering across the border.”
The Interior Ministry said the number of attempts to cross the border illegally has dropped by 64% since the zone was implemented. The expansion will take effect on Wednesday.
Rights groups have criticized the policy, saying it hampers efforts by aid workers to reach migrants, including women and children, stranded at the border.
Poland’s nationalist opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party accused the government of hypocrisy in imposing the buffer zone despite having criticised the policy while in opposition.
Tusk said on Tuesday that Poland needs more support to secure its eastern borderCriticised Germany’s decision to tighten land border controls .
