A van with 42 foreign citizens – mostly Iraqis – in its cargo area has been discovered by police in Poland during a traffic stop. They have been detained on suspicion of illegally crossing the border and the driver is facing charges.
Yesterday, police reported stopping the van, a Peugeot Boxer, on the S10 expressway in Lubicz Dolny near Toruń in north-central Poland. Among the passengers discovered inside, 31 were men, six were women, and five were children, the youngest of whom is four years old.
The discovery comes amid a surge in crossings into Poland from Belarus by people from the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Over 21,000 crossings have been prevented by Polish border guards this year and more than 2,000 people have been detained in Poland itself.
Less than half of the latter have claimed asylum in Poland, as many ultimately aim to reach western European countries and are helped to do so by a network of smugglers. Germany has reported thousands of people from the Middle East entering across the Polish border since August.
Earlier this week, Germany's interior minister thanked Poland for protecting the border with Belarus amid a surge in crossings. But he also suggested strengthening patrols on the Polish-German frontier https://t.co/AWjPWrStG3
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 24, 2021
Toruń police spokeswoman Wioletta Dąbrowska told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that the women and children discovered in the van have been housed in a nearby school. One woman required treatment and has been hospitalised. The men are in police custody on suspicion of entering Poland illegally.
Dąbrowska added that most had identified themselves with Iraqi documents, though some do not have any documents at all. Interpreters have been called in to communicate with the group.
The driver of the van – a 38-year-old Polish woman – has been charged with offences relating to organising the illegal entry and presence in Poland of the foreign citizens, as well as endangering their lives and health. Prosecutors have opened an investigation.
Main image credit: BarnCas/Wikimedia Commons (under CC BY-SA 4.0)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
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