Belarusian police investigating illegal migrant death near Polish border

April 11, BPN. Belarusian border guards discovered “the body of a foreigner of African descent” near the Polish border fence on April 10, the State Border Committee reported.

The deceased was found in the Bierastavica district, Brest region, and is a 32-year-old national of Guinea, the Investigative Committee said. It claimed that Polish border guards denied him medical assistance and pushed him back to Belarus using violence.  

The Belarusian border authorities recorded a total of ten illegal migrant deaths since the start of 2023.

The migration crisis at the Belarusian-EU border dates back to the spring of 2021. It escalated in November 2021 when thousands of migrants set up a camp near the Polish border. The Baltic states and Poland accused Belarusian authorities of creating the trouble, while the latter blamed it on the West.

Migration figures had dropped significantly by the time Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but have risen more recently.