Despite a decline in border crossing attempts from Belarus, tensions in Poland are escalating over migrants

On the edge of the Polish Bialowieza Forest, a wall separated Belarus from Poland for two years.

It was built as a bulwark against the illegal influx of thousands of migrants whose forced crossing into the European Union Minsk is accused of orchestrating.

The surrounding region, once a hotspot for Polish tourism, has also become the scene of numerous tragedies related to the plight of migrants, an issue that polarizes the Polish public more than ever.

Valerie Gauriat, Euronews' senior foreign correspondent, travelled to the Podlasie region in eastern Poland, where there have been numerous recent incidents between migrants and security forces.

Among them was the death of a young soldier last June who was stabbed to death at the border. It sparked national outrage and led to the adoption a new law that facilitates the use of firearms.

Tensions at the border

The killing also prompted civilian groups to travel to the border from other parts of Poland, claiming their mission was to reinforce government border guards.

“This kind of support is necessary because it makes even the army feel safer,” one group member tells us. “Knowing that there are people like us patrolling, so that the other side behind the wall also knows about us,” he adds. But senior border guards say their presence is not necessary.

There are also teams from Voluntary NGOs want to help these migrants who manage to cross the border with their asylum applications. They say the civilian or paramilitary groups patrolling the border are a sinister sight.

“In addition to our fear and concern for the migrants, we are also worried about ourselves. Because we never know how the nationalists will behave towards us,” an NGO leader tells our reporter.

The Euronews team found a strong mix of fear, anger and hostility from members of civil groups, confusion among some locals, despair among owners of tourism businesses who have lost income, and tragic stories of migrants who fled violence and brutal persecution in their home countries and now found themselves trapped in a seemingly never-ending nightmare.

Click on the video above to watch the full episode.