Amid the migrant crisis with Belarus
Events and photos.. Polish parliament approves border protection law
Migrant children inside the border camp in a very cold atmosphere.
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A migrant sprays his hair with a spray to protect his head from the snow falling on the place.
Reuters
A Polish soldier guards the forest that mediates the border between Poland and Belarus.
Reuters
Two migrants carry a food ration outside their tent at the border camp.
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Yesterday, the Polish parliament approved a bill that would allow temporary restrictions on crossings from the external borders of the European Union with Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.
The legislation was approved in response to the border crisis with Belarus, which is accused of encouraging thousands of migrants from other countries, such as Iraq, to crowd its western border with the European Union.
A large majority of Polish parliament members voted in favor of the bill, which was prepared by the ruling conservative nationalist Law and Justice party.
Subsequently, President Andrzej Duda signed the bill into law.
Opposition MPs criticized the move, accusing the Law and Justice party of seeking to deny journalists access to the border area in an attempt to avoid negative media coverage of the situation.
In early September, Poland declared a state of emergency for a three-kilometre section of the border with Belarus, where non-local residents, journalists and aid organizations are not allowed to enter.
Due to this, it is not possible to independently verify the reports of the Polish security forces on tensions and clashes on the border.
As scheduled, the state of emergency expired yesterday night, and it cannot be extended under the Polish constitution.
And Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminsky announced on Twitter, at dawn yesterday, that he had issued a decree banning non-local residents from entering the border area with Belarus for a period of three months, starting from Wednesday.
Under the new legislation signed by Duda, Poland's interior minister will be able to restrict access to the border in the event of a dangerous situation, and the minister will have the right to specify the region in which the legislation is to be applied.
Yesterday, the Belarusian border police recorded 134 illegal crossing attempts on the border with Belarus in one day.
The border police wrote in a tweet that a larger group of "aggressive foreigners" had thrown stones, iron bars and fireworks at Polish security forces across the border.
• Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminsky announced on Twitter yesterday that he had issued a decree banning non-local residents from entering the border area with Belarus for a period of three months, starting from Wednesday.
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