China News Service, November 11, reported that the immigration crisis in Belarus and Poland in the European Union has intensified recently. Thousands of refugees crowded in front of the Polish border via Belarus, which has caused a humanitarian crisis.

The EU accuses Belarus of planning an immigration crisis to retaliate against EU sanctions, which Belarus denies.

EU ambassadors have unanimously supported sanctions against Belarus in this regard.

The United Nations will hold an emergency meeting on this issue on the 11th. United Nations officials also called on both sides to resolve the expanding immigration crisis without delay.

The immigration crisis is getting worse

Poland increases troops to the border

　　Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia are all EU member states. In recent months, the number of immigrants trying to enter their borders through Belarus has increased, many of them from the Middle East.

　　According to Russian media reports, since the beginning of 2021, more than 30,000 refugees have tried to cross the Belarusian border into Poland.

Belarus recently announced the release of refugees into the European Union in response to the EU's previous sanctions against Belarus.

　　In response, Poland has stepped up its guard in the border area with Belarus.

This week, after immigrants tried to flood into Poland, Poland deployed thousands of soldiers to the border.

The Lithuanian government has approved the proposal of the Ministry of the Interior on the 9th to declare a state of emergency in the border area between Lithuania and Belarus to prevent similar refugee crises.

　　The EU accuses Belarus of planning the immigration crisis in retaliation, which the country denies.

EU officials accuse Belarus of "mixed attacks"

Support sanctions against Belarus

　　The 27 EU ambassadors met in Brussels on November 10.

The ambassadors agreed that Belarus’s practice of encouraging large numbers of immigrants to try to enter Poland can be seen as a “mixed attack”.

　　Belarus rejects European accusations and believes that it is the target of a "hybrid attack."

　　The EU is expected to discuss a package of sanctions on the 11th, and the discussions will be carried out on a technical level. The plan is expected to be approved at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on the 15th.

　　Reuters reported that the European Union has drawn up a list and plans to impose sanctions on 30 individuals and entities, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus and Belarusian Airlines.

The United Nations will meet urgently

Call for resolution of the immigration crisis

　　Thousands of refugees crowded in front of the Polish border via Belarus, which has caused a humanitarian crisis.

On the afternoon of the 11th, the United Nations will hold an emergency meeting on the entry of thousands of migrants from Belarus into Poland.

This meeting will be held behind closed doors.

　　United Nations spokesman Stephen Dujarik said at a press conference on the 10th that Secretary-General Guterres is paying attention to the situation on the border between Belarus and Poland.

　　The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michel Bachelet also urged Belarus and Poland to resolve the expanding immigration crisis on their common border without delay.

　　Bachelet said in a statement that she was shocked by the large numbers of immigrants and refugees who continue to be desperate at temperatures close to freezing.

　　She urged relevant countries to take immediate measures to ease and resolve this intolerable situation in accordance with their obligations under international human rights law and refugee law.