In 2021, Poland installed a border fence, concertina wire and CCTV systems to prevent illegal migrants from Belarus from entering the country. Massive concrete blocks block the access road to the Połowie-Pieschatka border crossing in northeastern Poland - each block weighs more than one and a half tons. A huge amount of razor wire is stretched between the concrete blocks. Behind them is a ring road that runs along a 5.5-meter-high border fence with concertina wire barriers installed on it. Cameras, heat sensors, underground cables - everything is very modern. Officially, no one can cross the border here anymore, as the crossing point has been closed since the summer of 2023.
Poland has responded to the increase in people trying to cross its border with Belarus since August 2021 by building a fence with concertina wire and electronic surveillance that stretches over 186 kilometers. Migrants and refugees are encouraged and supported by the regime in the Belarusian capital Minsk, one of Russia's closest partners. The threat Poland now faces is illegal migration organized by Belarus. Illegal migrants arrive in Belarus legally from Afghanistan, Syria or Iraq, and are then brought to the border with Poland for $8,000-$12,000. A video shows a Belarusian officer dropping off a group of people at night right on the border, in a place where there is only barbed wire.