The Polish Border Guard has praised a buffer zone established three weeks ago along the Polish-Belarusian border to curb migrant inflows.
The zone, which places restrictions on who can access the border zone, was set up following increasing migration pressure on the perimeter, and the fatal stabbing of a Polish soldier by a migrant in early June.
“Three weeks of the zone's operation have already passed, and its positive effects can be seen. We have a decrease in the number of attempts to illegally cross the border," Major Katarzyna Zdanowicz, a spokeswoman for the Podlasie Border Guard said on Friday.
She said that in the first days of the zone's operation, there were about 150 attempts to cross the border per day, but that number has fallen in the last few days to around 20, which, she said, showed that the numbers have dropped “by over 50%”.
The buffer zone, which covers 60 km along the Polish-Belarusian border in Podlaskie and is 200 meters wide, was introduced on June 13 to deter undocumented migrants, which include economic migrants and refugees, from crossing the border. It resulted in increased military presence in the zone and restricted access to the area to residents, humanitarian groups and the media.
Zdanowicz, however, downplayed these restrictions, arguing that a total of 68 permits were issued to people allowing them to stay in the zone, 51 of which were media representatives. People can “enjoy the freedom to move around and record material,” she said.
After Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the introduction of the buffer zone, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFPC) published an open letter on June 11 signed by 15 other human rights organizations drawing attention to the illegality of the buffer zone.
It mentioned a “lack of a clear connection” between the safety of officers and the local population and the buffer zone, “mak[ing] it impossible for [HFPC] to consider that the establishment of the zone complies with the standards of a democratic state of law and meets the principles of expediency and proportionality in restricting civil liberties.”
Human rights groups argue that the imposition of the zone is not an appropriate response to controlling migration because it endangers the lives of civilians crossing the border, many of whom are refugees who have the right to seek asylum under international law.
She said that in the first days of the zone's operation, there were about 150 attempts to cross the border per day, but that number has fallen in the last few days to around 20, which, she said, showed that the numbers have dropped “by over 50%”.
The buffer zone, which covers 60 km along the Polish-Belarusian border in Podlaskie and is 200 meters wide, was introduced on June 13 to deter undocumented migrants, which include economic migrants and refugees, from crossing the border. It resulted in increased military presence in the zone and restricted access to the area to residents, humanitarian groups and the media.
Zdanowicz, however, downplayed these restrictions, arguing that a total of 68 permits were issued to people allowing them to stay in the zone, 51 of which were media representatives. People can “enjoy the freedom to move around and record material,” she said.
After Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the introduction of the buffer zone, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFPC) published an open letter on June 11 signed by 15 other human rights organizations drawing attention to the illegality of the buffer zone.
It mentioned a “lack of a clear connection” between the safety of officers and the local population and the buffer zone, “mak[ing] it impossible for [HFPC] to consider that the establishment of the zone complies with the standards of a democratic state of law and meets the principles of expediency and proportionality in restricting civil liberties.”
Human rights groups argue that the imposition of the zone is not an appropriate response to controlling migration because it endangers the lives of civilians crossing the border, many of whom are refugees who have the right to seek asylum under international law.
Source: PAP, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, TVP World
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