Large concrete blocks block the entrance to the Polovce-Piaść border crossing in northeastern Poland. Each one weighs 1,7 tons. "Not even two tanks could move them," says a Polish border guard - and with obvious pride.
Between the concrete barriers, the Poles have strung barbed wire. Lots of barbed wire. And behind that is a narrow path, along a five-and-a-half-meter-high border fence. Cameras, thermal sensors, underground cables. Everything is very, very modern. Officially, no one can cross the border at that point. Namely, the Polovce-Pjaščatka crossing has been closed since 2023.
186 kilometer long fence
By erecting a fence on the electronically monitored border, a 186-kilometer-long fence, Warsaw has responded to the growing number of migrants and refugees who have been trying to cross from Belarus to Poland since August 2021. They say in Poland that they are being encouraged and assisted in this by the regime in Minsk, one of Russia's closest partners.
“The biggest threat we are currently facing is irregular migration orchestrated by Belarus,” says Colonel Andrzej Stasiulevic, deputy commander of the Podlaski Border Division. People from Afghanistan, Syria or Iraq arrive in Belarus legally, then pay eight to twelve thousand US dollars to be transferred to the border with Poland, that is, to cross into the territory of the European Union.
Does Belarus want escalation?
And how does it work in practice? A Polish border guard demonstrates this with the help of video footage from surveillance cameras. One shows a Belarusian officer leaving a group of people right next to the border at night. At that point, the border is secured only by barbed wire. A river there is a natural barrier between the two countries.
Another video shows people on the Belarusian side throwing stones and burning branches at the border fence. “Belarus wants the situation to escalate,” Stasiulevich is convinced. “We want to de-escalate it.”
Does the fence help at all? Yes, answer the Polish border guards in Polovtse. They also praise the buffer zone that has been established in the border region. The aim, they say, is to prevent smugglers from driving their vehicles right up to the border to pick up migrants at pre-arranged locations.
Criticism from activists
Human rights organizations are still criticizing the measures, saying that they are also having difficulty accessing injured or sick people in the forest in the buffer zone. These are people who need medical attention.
The fence can be cut, and there have been attempts to do so. Brigadier General Robert Bagan, commander of the Polish forces responsible for protecting the border, shows us a small, thin saw that was confiscated at the scene. Bagan says it takes six to eight minutes to cut through a section of the fence if a slightly larger battery-powered device is used.
Saw on the fence
Despite the ongoing modernization of the barriers, many people still try to cross the 247-kilometer border from Belarus to Poland. Over the past year, the number has increased to almost 30.000 people.
More than 2.685 of them, according to official figures, have applied for asylum in Poland. A center has been opened in Polovtse to receive these people and process their asylum applications. The center also has a small room for families, including a toy corner for children. However, most of the people who arrive at the center are men traveling alone, according to Polish representatives.
"Terrible and dangerous"
Organizations such as Amnesty International accuse the Polish authorities of violating the human rights of refugees and migrants. They also mention the so-called pushbacks. "It is terrible and dangerous, and clearly illegal, to send people back into the dense forest in freezing temperatures," Ruth Tanner from Amnesty Europe tells DW. Poland is obliged under international law to check each individual case, she adds.
The criticism is rejected by both the Polish government and Polish border guards in the northeast of the country. “Define for me exactly what push-backs are?” asks Maciej Duszczyk, State Secretary at the Polish Ministry of the Interior. This is his response to the activists' criticism.
Return to Belarus
Brigadier General Bagan explains that every border guard is obliged to ask whether someone wants to apply for asylum. "But when people say 'no', because they don't want to stay in Poland at all, then I send them back." They are let back into Belarusian territory through a gate in the border fence. "There's no other way this whole thing can be done," says Robert Bagan. He claims that no cooperation has been possible with the Belarusian authorities for years.
Bagan notes, however, that those people who are turned back “soon try again, as long as there is enough money.” The amount of money they have available and the weather are decisive factors. In March, when it warms up, Polish border guards expect more attempts to cross the border.
They give the impression that they are proud of their modern border fence. And they consider the work they are doing to be an important task – not only for their country, but, as they believe, for the entire European Union.
Bonus video:
