Migrant shot with rubber bullet after scrambling over border | World | News
An undocumented Sudanese migrant was shot with a rubber bullet near Poland’s border with Belarus. On Tuesday evening, the migrant was wounded in the thigh after he “failed to comply with orders”, according to a Polish army unit. Meanwhile, five migrants were detained and handed over to the Border Guard.
A statement from the 12th Mechanised Division said the incident took place near the village of Narewka in eastern Poland. The Sudanese national was hospitalised but did not sustain life-threatening injuries. In a statement, the army unit explained that the use of force against the migrant “was intended to ensure the [Polish] soldiers’ safety and counter the aggressive behavior of the migrants”.
It added: “The detained migrants crossed the national border illegally and in a non-designated area, which is a crime.”
The Polish troops did not sustain any injuries.
According to TVP World, Polish authorities reported around 100 attempts to illegally cross the border from Belarus to Poland on Tuesday alone.
A group of 20 migrants managed to cross the border before the force intervened, a border guard spokesperson said.
Poland is one of many countries in Europe grappling with an immigration crisis, having faced issues with its eastern borders since the end of 2021. Since then, thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Africa have attempted to enter Poland and Lithuania via Belarus.
Clashed on the border between Polish authorities and migrants attempting to enter illegally have historically been fatal. In 2024, a Polish soldier was killed after being stabbed by a migrant.
At the same time, there have been reports of migrants being killed in border regions since 2021.
Many of the migrants attempting to illegally enter Poland from Belarus are trying to get to wealthier countries in Europe, such as Germany. As a result, Warsaw and Berlin have imposed tougher border checks.
On Wednesday, Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak announced that the checks imposed by his country on its borders with Germany and Lithuania earlier this month would be extended. They were initially in place until August 5.
