Polish Border Guard spokesperson Anna Michalska said on Tuesday the service won't be giving illegal immigrants "a lift" to other European capitals, "so they could file for international protection there". "We register requests by these people right here, in Poland. And if they declare they want to file in other countries, then they should find a legal way to get there," she added.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Border Guard officers commented on further attempts of illegal border crossing, as well as the situation at the Polish-Belarusian border, where a state of emergency has been imposed.
Border Guard spokesperson: it's not our duty to help in illegal border crossing
Border Guard spokesperson Anna Michalska said the service won't be giving illegal immigrants "a lift" to other European capitals, "so they could file for international protection there".
"We, as Polish Border Guard, register requests by these people right here, in Poland. And if they declare they want to file in other countries, then they should find a legal way to get there, rather than illegally traverse through Poland," she added.
Michalska also stressed that "it's not our duty to help migrants to illegally cross our border". "Our duty is to protect it," she explained.
Migrants with children pushed backed
Migrants mostly from the Middle East have been trying to cross the Polish-Belarusian border, which is also EU's eastern border, for a few months now. They are being brought there by the Belarusian authorities and then sent towards the border with Poland. According to Polish authorities, this is a part of a hybrid warfare launched by the Lukashenko regime. In parts of Podlaskie and Lubelskie province - a total of 183 locations - a state of emergency has been declared. Many restrictions are in place, including no entry for journalists.
On September 27, a group of 20 migrants, including women and eight children appeared in front of the Border Guard station in Michałowo in Podlaskie province. They were taken back to the border with Belarus later that day. In the following days, Podlaski Border Guard Unit spokesperson Katarzyna Zdanowicz said that a "procedure in line with the ordinance" was followed with regards to the migrants. She added the migrants "were taken to the border line and they are now in Belarus". However, the Border Guard did not provide any details as to the migrants' whereabouts.
On October 1, the Border Guard issued a statement in that regard, in which it said its officers "informed the foreigners about the possibility to file for international help, but the parents refused to submit such request in Poland. These people were only interested in filing for international help in Germany".
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, TVN24