Polish soldiers fire shots at migrants crossing Poland-Belarus border

WARSAW

Polish soldiers fired shots at a group of migrants crossing the Poland-Belarus border Tuesday evening, injuring a Sudanese citizen, the army said Wednesday.

The incident occurred at 8.37 pm local time (1837GMT) in the area under the jurisdiction of the Polish Border Guard station in Narewka on Poland’s northeastern border.

Maj. Blazej Lukaszewski of the Podlaskie Task Force said: “In accordance with applicable procedures, soldiers from the task force used direct coercive measures, including smoothbore weapons.

“These actions were dictated by the failure to comply with orders and were intended to ensure the safety of soldiers and counteract aggressive behavior by migrants.

“The detained migrants crossed the state border illegally and in a place not designated for this purpose, which is a crime,” a statement from the army read.

It added that five detained migrants had been handed over to the Border Guard, while no soldier was injured.

One of the detained migrants was transported by the Border Guard to the Hospital Emergency Department in Hajnowka, a town 20 kilometers (13 miles) from the border.

“The Sudanese citizen was diagnosed with a gunshot wound to the thigh, caused by a rubber bullet fired from a smoothbore weapon. The migrant’s life is not in danger,” the statement read.

“In the face of the ongoing migration crisis and the growing number of aggressive incidents on the Polish-Belarusian border, let us support all soldiers of the Polish Army and Border Guard officers who are dedicated to protecting Poland’s security,” the statement concluded.

Last week, Polish border officers came under attack with bottles, including a Molotov cocktail, authorities said.

Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote on X: “Soldiers are being attacked not only with stones but also bottles filled with flammable liquid.”

Warsaw accuses Belarus and its ally Russia of creating a border crisis to destabilize Poland and the EU, and suggests that since mid-2021, Belarus has been helping migrants from the Middle East and Africa make their way into Poland — and hence also the EU — via the forested and swampy areas of northeastern Poland.

In July 2024, the Polish parliament passed legislation removing criminal liability from uniformed personnel using firearms on Poland’s eastern border. This happened after two incidents on the border. In one, a soldier died in June 2024 after being stabbed by a migrant with a knife, and in the other, military police arrested two soldiers for firing warning shots at migrants.

Last month, Polish prosecutors charged a 25-year-old soldier for overstepping rules on lethal force by shooting toward a group of migrants. He was accused of discharging 12 rounds from his service rifle on March 25, 2024 near the northeastern village of Dubicze Cerkiewne. The soldier faces up to three years in prison.

Efforts to curb illegal migration must focus on the EU’s external borders, Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said Monday during a visit to the Poland-Belarus border with his German counterpart Alexander Dobrindt.

Poland has accused Germany of sending migrants back into Poland after they travel into Germany. The Polish-German border has seen increased tensions in recent weeks.

Siemoniak said Poland has spent 2.6 billion zlotys (€600,000) and deployed 11,000 border guards and soldiers on its eastern border.

He added that Poland was “doing everything it could to stop illegal crossings from Belarus, particularly by migrants trying to reach Germany and other western European countries.”

Poland has built an electronic barrier along the length of the Podlaskie section of the Belarus border, a 5.5-meter (18-foot) steel fence stretching 186 km (115 mi), while the new sensor-based barrier extends 206 km (128 mi).

Warsaw also suspended asylum applications in March.

Germany’s Dobrindt voiced support for Poland’s border measures, including the temporary controls with Lithuania and Germany.

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