Migrants, the border fence between Poland and Belarus has been broken down

• Thousands of migrants on the border between Belarus and Poland.

  Warsaw: we fear armed escalation

• Migrants, Germany to the EU: helping Poland.

  Brussels squeeze on visas to Belarusian officials

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November 10, 2021 Two groups of migrants managed to break through the border fence between Poland and Belarus by crossing the border: this is what the Polish agency PAP writes, according to various German media. The breakthrough occurred in the two villages of Krynki and Bialowieza. At the border for days there have been thousands of massed migrants trying to enter Europe; yesterday Warsaw explicitly accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of orchestrating the crisis.

In the morning, the Polish Defense Minister, Mariusz Baszczak, announced that many attempts had been made to violate the border with Belarus during the night. "It was not a quiet night. There were many attempts to break the line, but everyone who crossed it was arrested," the minister said. "However, I want to reassure you - he added - that there are already 15 thousand men at the border, soldiers of the Polish army. The number has been increased and of course, it can be increased even more if necessary".   

Belarus has accused the Polish forces of having beaten some migrants, specifically four people of Kurdish ethnicity, who tried to enter the EU, while increasing criticism of Minsk for the "exploitation" of migrants stranded at the border. The four "were arrested in Poland where they had tried to seek protection and refugee status," the Belarusian border guard service said in a statement, releasing images showing four men, some in bloody clothes and one with cuts on his hands. , who covered their faces. "Judging by the numerous injuries on the bodies of the migrants, the Polish security forces mistreated the people and, using force,they pushed them over a barbed wire fence on the border with Belarus, "the statement said.

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, meets Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in Warsaw this morning. This is what we read on the updated agenda of the President of the European Council. The Polish government accuses Minsk of pushing thousands of people towards the country's borders, while Belarusian President Lukashenko denounced "the deployment of Polish regular forces at the border", stressing that his country "will not kneel to the EU".       

Yesterday Michel stigmatized the situation on twitter: "Using vulnerable migrants as part of a hybrid attack goes beyond contempt. The EU will not accept any attempt to exploit migrants," he wrote expressing " full solidarity "with EU member states.

Meanwhile, Germany has returned to urge new EU sanctions against Belarus, whose president Alexander Lukashenko exploits migrants "without scruples" by sending them to the border with Poland. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said so. "We will sanction all those involved in the targeted smuggling of migrants", announced Maas according to whom the EU will work to "extend and strengthen sanctions against the Lukashenko regime". "The European Union cannot be blackmailed," added Maas.

"The situation of the migrants gathered on the border between Belarus and Poland is paradoxical. On both sides, migrants are used for political interests".

This was denounced in no uncertain terms by Msgr.

Giancarlo Perego, president of the Migration Commission of the Italian Episcopal Conference and of the Migrantes Foundation.

"Nobody talks about who these migrant people are, their face, their history. It is certain - observes the prelate - that on both sides there is only rejection or exploitation. Once again, migrants are the only victims" .