Polish parliament approves construction of wall against migrants on border with Belarus – franceinfo

A wall to block migrants and refugees. The Polish Parliament definitively validated Friday, October 29 the government plan to build a wall on the border with Belarus to prevent these populations from crossing into Poland.

The cost of the wall is estimated at 353 million euros and it is to extend over 100 kilometers to the eastern border of the European Union. President Andrzej Duda had announced that he would enact this law as soon as it was approved by Parliament.

Thousands of migrants, mostly from the Middle East, have crossed or attempted to cross the border from Belarus since the summer. The European Union accuses Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of bringing in Middle Eastern and African nationals to Minsk and then pushing them across the borders of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland in retaliation for sanctions economic consequences inflicted by the EU on his regime.

In response, Poland imposed a state of emergency in the border area, dispatched thousands of soldiers there and legalized the controversial practice of direct refoulement. Non-governmental organizations have warned of the increasingly dangerous weather conditions for people.

Poland is one of twelve EU member states that last week asked the European Union to fund the erection of “barriers” at their borders. However, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Brussels would not fund the construction of barriers at the EU’s borders.