Poland intends to build a wall to prevent migrants from crossing its border with Belarus, according to a bill debated Wednesday, October 13 in Parliament.
Read alsoPolexit: “Put Poland down!
We are staying in Europe! ”
The cost of building the wall is estimated at 353 million euros and will also include the installation of motion detectors.
The Polish nationalist and populist government adopted the bill on Tuesday and it should be voted on by MPs no later than Wednesday or Thursday.
Influx of migrants to the Polish border
"
The number of attempts to cross the border is on the rise,
" the government said in the rationale for the project.
The text states that no one will be able to approach the wall within 200 meters.
Since August, thousands of migrants, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, have tried to cross the Polish border from Belarus.
Read alsoPoland: a sixth migrant dies on the border with Belarus
According to the European Union, the Belarusian regime deliberately organized this influx in revenge for European sanctions. Poland responded by dispatching thousands of troops to the border, establishing a state of emergency there and building a barbed wire fence. Poland is one of twelve states which last week asked the European Union to fund
border
"
barriers
" to prevent migrants from entering EU territory.
The wall project was immediately criticized by non-governmental organizations which accuse the Polish authorities of reacting brutally and who warned it against a possible "
humanitarian catastrophe
", in particular because of the living conditions of the migrants stranded in the city. the woods and swamps on the border.
The state of emergency, which prevents journalists and charities from approaching the border, has proved particularly controversial and the EU has called on Warsaw for “
transparency
”.
