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The van in which the police picked up 31 Iraqis near the German-Polish border
Photo: - / dpa
The federal police picked up 31 Iraqis in a pickup truck not far from the German-Polish border in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
The 19 men, 2 women and 10 children were sometimes not doing very well, the police said on Saturday.
The children therefore wore worn, damp shoes.
The feet were partly wrapped in aluminum foil and were sore as a result.
All of the refugees were brought to the Pasewalk federal police station.
Refugees are increasingly trying to get into the EU via Belarus
The Polish van had crossed the border in Blankensee in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district and was stopped by the police in Boock on Saturday morning.
The 34-year-old driver of the van was taken into custody.
According to the police, a large one-hand knife and a storm hood were found during the search of the Polish smuggler.
Refugees, most of whom come from the Arab region, have been trying harder to get into the EU via Belarus for months.
They also use the route via Poland to Germany.
The governments of Germany and Poland accuse the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko of bringing refugees from crisis regions to the EU's external border in an organized manner.
Lukashenko announced at the end of May that he would no longer prevent refugees from continuing to travel to the EU - in response to tightened Western sanctions against the former Soviet republic.
skr / dpa