It is now mainly young men who attempt to cross the border illegally. There are no families with children among them – said Capt. Krystyna Jakimik-Jarosz from the Press Office of the Podlasie Border Guard. Officers are increasingly reporting incidents of “psychological provocation”.
“The nature of incidents at the border is changing,” said Capt. Krystyna Jakimik-Jarosz of the Press Office of the Podlasie Border Guard.
She stressed that more and more often the destruction of border infrastructure, mainly the cutting of barbed wire, is committed by Belarusian services without the participation of migrants.
“Not only do they support attacks on the border by migrants but they also carry out provocations themselves. Often to divert attention from the next attempt to push the border, which takes place a few miles away, an hour or two later,” she said.
Officers are increasingly reporting incidents of “psychological provocation”. For example: “On the Belarusian side of the border, a man in a balaclava appeared, speaking perfect Polish, and started asking us if we were sorry that we would not spend Christmas with our families”.
According to Capt. Jakimik-Jarosz, migrants who are apprehended by border guards and escorted to the borderline are now mostly young, strong men.
“They are often the same people we stopped the day before,” the officer said.
