“Belarus is a signatory to the Geneva Convention on Refugees. Refugees and migrants are obliged to submit requests for asylum within Belarus. If someone from Egypt, Afghanistan, Somalia finds themselves in Belarus, they should apply for asylum. From Poland’s point of view, they have no right to cross our border without our visa,” emphasised Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

Declaration of a state of emergency means safety for Polish citizens

The border between Belarus and the European Union is constantly being illegally crossed by migrants from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Egypt, Somalia and other countries. The migrants first began to illegally enter Lithuania, which was followed by increased pressure at the borders with Poland and Latvia. The state of emergency has been declared for 30 days and concerns only an approx. 3-km-long strip along the border with Belarus in parts of the Podlaskie and Lubelskie Viovodeships.

“We have declared a state of emergency and today in the Sejm we will be calling all political forces to support the decision to declare the state of emergency,” said Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. He added: “It is better to prevent, hence the decision to declare the state of emergency. The residents of the areas covered by the state of emergency are able to work without hindrance. As for tourism and agritourism, the entrepreneurs operating in these sectors will be compensated for their losses.”

Compensation for entrepreneurs following declaration of the state of emergency

In the coming days, the Council of Ministers will be working on a proposal regarding compensation for entrepreneurs operating in areas covered by the state of emergency. Once approved, it will be submitted to the Sejm. Everything is being done so the funds can be credited to the entrepreneurs’ accounts as quickly as possible. “We want this to be at least 60 percent of the average revenue over the last 3 months, when the state of emergency was not in effect,” informed the Prime Minister. He added that the last months were summer months, meaning higher revenue. We want the planned solution to be beneficial and compensate the losses in revenue stemming from declaration of the state of emergency.

The camp is an organised action of Belarusian authorities

Since the beginning of August, there have been over 4 thousand prevented attempts to illegally cross the Polish border. Migrants are being brought to the border by Belarusian authorities. These people are being transported from other countries, including Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Egypt and Somalia, and subsequently brought to the border with Poland. Importantly, Polish authorities have identified approx. 40 flight arrivals from Baghdad to Minsk over the last few weeks.

“The camp near Usnarz Górny is merely a cover-up for an organised action of Belarusian authorities. We know that these authorities are providing the migrants with special resources and assisting them in their attempts to enter Poland illegally,” informed Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

Hard work of Border Guard officers

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawicki has thanked all officers involved in the actions near the border with Belarus and called all political forces to proceed in the spirit of unity and responsibility in the face of the difficult situation at the border.

“I would like to thank all officers who are fulfilling their duties in an exemplary manner and patrolling our borders. We are not expecting the tension at the eastern border to subside. In a few days, the largest military exercise in the last 40 years – Zapad 2021 – will begin. Military exercise at such a scale can potentially lead to numerous provocations. The situation at the border with Belarus hasn’t been so tense in over 30 years. It is an attempt at political destabilisation of the eastern border of the European Union. Dear opposition: we should all protect the Polish borders. No-one should support provocations,” emphasised Head of the Government Mateusz Morawiecki.