MINSK, November 23. /TASS/. Chairman of the Belarusian State Border Committee, Anatoly Lappo discussed the migration crisis on the Belarusian-Polish border with Regional Director for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Renate Held and UNHCR’s (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) Deputy Director of the Regional Bureau for Europe Angela Li Rosi, noting that Minsk is open to dialogue to settle the current crisis.
"The sides considered the current situation related to the irregular (illegal - TASS) migrants stranded on the Belarusian-Polish border and discussed the interaction of all involved organizations to assist this category of people," the press service of the Committee reported on Tuesday. Anatoly Lappo noted that the State Border Committee is open to dialogue with all interested sides. The Belarusian border guard service is making every effort to resolve the current situation with refugees seeking to reach the EU countries.
"Following the meeting, the sides reached agreements on further cooperation in this direction," the message reads.
The migration crisis on Belarus’ borders with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, where migrants began to flock to since the beginning of this year, went into high gear on November 8. Several thousand people approached the Polish border on the Belarusian side and tried to cross into Poland. In an attempt to storm the border, they broke a barbed wire fence. On November 16, near the Bruzgi border crossing point, several groups of migrants broke through the Belarusian fence and threw stones at Polish security forces. In response, Polish police used stun grenades and water cannons. EU member-states have blamed Minsk for the intentional escalation of the crisis and called for more sanctions. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that in this situation the responsibility rested squarely on Western countries, whose policies had forced people to flee from war.