This year, Poland detains 195 Ukrainians on human trafficking charges
This was reported by the country’s Border Guard Service in response to Ukrinform’s enquiry.
The agency’s spokesman says a total of 377 accomplices in the illegal border crossing have been detained, with more than half of them, 195 (51%), being citizens of Ukraine. The cases concern the Belarus border section.
Since the beginning of the so-called migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border, since the summer of 2021, Polish law enforcers have detained 1,754 human traffickers, of whom 740 (42%) are citizens of Ukraine. Last year, 295 Ukrainians were nabbed, 174 – in 2022, and 76 – in 2021.
Border guards added that this year alone, the court ruled to remand 38 Ukrainian suspects in custody. Since the start of the migration crisis, their number has amounted to 166.
After detention, Polish authorities usually deport accomplices from other countries. Custody remand for up to three months is applied in some cases.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, in 2022, Poland built a 5.5m high and 186km long barrier on the border with Belarus, as well as installed a modern electronic monitoring system.
The move came as a response to the artificial creation by Belarus and Russia of the so-called migration pressure on the borders with Poland and the Baltic States.
As of today, the barrier is still being upgraded.
On average, several dozen illegal migrants attempt to illegally cross into Poland from Belarus every day. They are often aggressive toward Polish patrols, hurling stones and tree branches at them. In May 2024, a Polish serviceman was stabbed by an illegal migrant at the border, later succumbing to his wounds in hospital.
The head of the Polish government, Donald Tusk, said Poland had started the construction of fortifications on the border with Russia and Belarus as part of the large-scale East Shield project. Warsaw intends to build 700 km long fortifications, detection and alarm systems, advanced bases, logistics hubs, anti-drone systems, etc.
