Indian among migrants rescued from swamp on Polish-Belarus border

WARSAW: An Indian was among 10 migrants rescued by Poland’s Border Guards from a swamp near the country’s border fence with Belarus.

The group, which included eight Sri Lankans, one Indian and a Pakistani, was found last week near Siemianowka lake, a few kilometres from the Belarusian border, the Border Guards said.

“Today, Border Guard officers, in cooperation with other services, saved 10 foreigners during an extremely difficult operation,” Poland’s Border Guard (Straz Graniczna), the state security agency tasked with patrolling the Polish border, said on Twitter.

“The foreigners, during the illegal crossing of the Polish-Belarusian border, got stuck in the swampy areas surrounding the Siemianowka Lagoon,” they added. The operation involved soldiers of the Polish Armed Forces, Territorial Defence Forces and units of the State and Volunteer Fire Brigades. “The sought group of migrants was located using a drone. Thanks to the bearings provided by the operator, the rescue group reached the foreigners,” Border Guard said.

Late last year, four migrants from Punjab found themselves stranded at the border, and were detained by the Border Guards. The Polish Border Guard claimed last year that there had been 11,300 attempts to illegally cross the Polish border from Belarus. It said that 16 Iraqis, two Indians and a Syrian were arrested by the security forces.

Compared to other nations, there has been minimal reporting on the presence of Indian migrants at the Poland-Belarus border, according to media reports.

Since February 24, when Russia invaded Ukraine, close to 7.55 million people have crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border into Poland, the Border Guard said in an earlier tweet. Recently, the Polish Border Guard stopped 60 illegal migrants, among them from Egypt, Syria, and Yemen attempting to cross over from Belarus. They were being guided and assisted by Ukrainian nationals, the Border Guard said. Poland has finished building a new 186-kilometre border wall to stop migrants entering from Belarusian territory.At least 20 people are known to have died between Belarus and Poland in freezing conditions in the last year.