Polish police: Asylum seekers break through Belarus border

Poland's border security forces say they are expected another "big attempt" to cross the border.

Thousands of migrants have travelled to Belarus to cross into the European Union, only to find themselves trapped on the border in freezing conditions.
AFP

Thousands of migrants have travelled to Belarus to cross into the European Union, only to find themselves trapped on the border in freezing conditions.

A group of about 50 migrants has broken through defences on the border with Belarus and entered Poland near the village of Starzyna.

"Yesterday, before 5 pm, around 50 people broke into Poland near Starzyna," Podlaska police said in a tweet on Sunday.

The situation on the frontier was becoming increasingly tense, it added.

All of the people were caught by Polish uniformed services and brought back to the border, Border Guard spokesperson Katarzyna Zdanowicz told local state media PAP.

In total, the Polish Border Guard said there were 223 attempts to illegally cross the border on Saturday.

READ MORE: Who are the Iraqis at the center of the EU-Belarus refugee dispute?

The police also said the helmet of an officer serving at the border was damaged after a stone was thrown at him.

The spokesperson for Poland's security services Stanislaw Zaryn wrote on Twitter on Sunday about reports of trucks carrying stones and rubble from Belarusian construction companies to areas near the border.

READ MORE: Tensions high at Poland-Belarus border as EU considers sanctions on Minsk

Refugee influx to EU

Thousands of migrants have travelled to Belarus in the hope of crossing into the European Union, only to find themselves trapped on the border in freezing conditions.

The EU accuses Minsk of orchestrating the crisis to put pressure on the bloc over sanctions it has imposed, but Belarus has repeatedly denied this. 

Some countries in the region have warned the stand-off could escalate into a military conflict.

READ MORE: Putin: West, not Minsk, behind Belarus-Poland border crisis

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