Migrant tent camp at Belarusian-Polish border cleared

A migrant camp along the Belarusian-Polish border at the Kuznica-Brusgi crossing has been cleared, according to Belarusian border guard forces.

Migrants would no longer be allowed on the green strip along the Polish border fortifications, a spokesperson for the agency said on Friday, adding that the migrants have since been housed in a logistics centre nearby.

After a first case of Covid-19 was reported at the emergency shelter the day before, a vaccination centre is to start operating there on Friday. The administration of a Chinese vaccine is planned.

In the morning, pro-government Belarusian media published videos from the logistics hall, which now houses almost all the people who had previously camped in the forest.

In the emergency shelter, adults and children were crowded together on mattresses on the floor. Food was distributed in front of the building.

Seeking refuge

Because so many wet and freezing people were seeking refuge there, a second floor has been made available.

The Polish government and the European Union accuse authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko of deliberately flying people in from crisis regions in order to smuggle them into the EU.