Controls again on the border with Slovakia: Poland announces the arrest of 1,800 people

Poland has temporarily reimposed controls on the border with Slovakia in connection with the increase in illegal migration via the “Balkan route”. The procedure is initially limited to ten days.

According to the Polish Border Guard, the largest crowds were in the so-called “Silesian Department”, and there were also the largest number of arrests there, about 1,800 people so far.

Simon Mosski is an officer of the Silesian Border Unit and gave a provisional assessment: “Almost 400 people were arrested in September, and currently there are approximately 800 people. These people will be handed over to the Slovak side as part of the following: ‘Wheel Mission’.” Silesian border guard officials also arrested 40 smugglers. Tonight, a chase took place, the car was stopped and there were nine migrants in the car. These people had documents issued by the Slovak side indicating that they were “possibly Syrian citizens.” The driver was a Moroccan with legal residency in Germany.”

Have human rights been ignored?

Migration experts and humanitarian workers report major problems in dealing with the situation. Not only in terms of human rights, but also in terms of the effectiveness of the measures.

“Migrants are only talked about, and above all, in the context of workers,” says Karol Wilczynski, a migration expert at Jagiellonian University and a human rights activist. “No one treats them individually, no one cares about their human rights. No one is trying to break up smuggling operations.” This is amazing”. Networks – The recent visa scandal “shows that governments are more willing to work with smugglers for individual gain.”

German control of the border with Poland

In addition to Poland, the Czech Republic and Austria have also re-imposed border controls. Germany intensified its patrols on the border with Poland.

“There are political needs, not only in Poland,” says Wojciech Przybylski, a political analyst with the NGO Visegrad Insight in Warsaw. “It is a coordinated effort, which of course happens in the middle of the election campaign in Poland, but it is part of a process in which you try to Countries administer control of the EU’s external borders.

At the Polish Zvardun border crossing, Euronews correspondent Magdalena Chodonic commented: “The issue of immigration and borders returns as one of the most important issues in the current election campaign in Poland and in the entire European Union. Of all Polish borders, only the maritime border is not subject to additional controls today.”