Belarusians started to provide irregular migrants with camouflage uniforms; the provocations are looming, the Polish side warns.
“Lukashenka is cynically using migrants to destabilise the situation in Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. The latest information obtained from the border service shows that Belarusians are handing over their uniforms to migrants not far from Usnarz. In addition, it is highly likely that provocations will take place,” Stanisław Żaryn, Spokesman for Poland’s Minister Coordinator of Special Services said on Twitter on Wednesday.
He added to his post a tweet by the Polish border guard service which updated information about the situation at the Polish-Belarusian border.
“We anticipate [staging] provocations by the Belarusian side. The Belarusian services are giving uniforms to foreigners roaming on their side, despite the fact that they had repeatedly received assistance, including warm clothes, from representatives of Belarusian NGOs before,” Polish border guards report.
Spodziewamy się kolejnych prowokacji ze strony białoruskiej. Służby?? dają mundury cudzoziemcom koczującym po ich stronie pomimo tego, że wcześniej dostarczana była im kilkukrotnie pomoc, w tym ciepła odzież, od przedstawicieli pozarządowych organizacji na Białorusi.#zgranicy pic.twitter.com/F5xbJJD3m9
— Straż Graniczna (@Straz_Graniczna) September 29, 2021
The information above is impliedly confirmed by photos posted on the web by pro-Lukashenka MP Tengiz Dumbadze. Together with Liliya Ananich, a representative of the state-controlled Belarusian Women’s Union and former Information Minister, he visited a migrants’ camp.
In turn, the State Border Committee of Belarus has commented on photos of camouflaged migrants, saying that they were given jackets and pants from sets of border guards’ uniforms a week ago.
Strona białoruska pomaga nielegalnym imigrantom w forsowaniu zapory technicznej na granicy ????. Funkcjonariusze SG regularnie zabezpieczają sprzęt i narzędzia potrzebne do nielegalnego przekroczenia granicy.#zgranicy #pojazdobserwacyjny pic.twitter.com/YJCliMgKgj
— Straż Graniczna (@Straz_Graniczna) September 28, 2021
In addition, on September 28, the Polish Border Guard Service published a thermovision camera recording that features Belarusian special services using a ladder to help migrants climb over the barbed wire fence and enter Poland. The Belarusian authorities continue to deny any involvement.