Polish parliament rejects unrestricted media access to Belarusian border

A view of the Poland – Belarus border near Kapciamiestis, Lithuania November 26, 2021. REUTERS/Janis Laizans

WARSAW, Nov 30 (Reuters) – Poland’s president on Tuesday signed into law a law that will limit access for charities and journalists to its border with Belarus as the country grapples with a looming migration crisis.

The law is a blow to opposition parties that advocated unlimited access to the media, an amendment approved Friday by the upper house of parliament but rejected by the lower house.

Under the state of emergency declared in the border region in September and ending at midnight, the media and charities were completely banned. The opposition said the ban was intended to cover up rights abuses and called for unfettered access.

The government said the restrictions were necessary for security reasons.

Under the new rules, the interior minister can limit access to the border area after consulting the head of border guards. However, journalists and NGOs may be able to enter at the discretion of local border guard chiefs.

Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said on Tuesday evening that he would order a temporary ban on entering border areas.

The European Union accuses Minsk of staging the migrant crisis to retaliate against sanctions. Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko accuses the EU of deliberately causing a humanitarian crisis.

Poland’s human rights ombudsman criticized the new law, saying it gives the interior minister the right to limit freedom of movement and indefinitely limit access to information about what is happening at home. frontier.

While the situation at the border has calmed down since mid-November, when Polish security forces fired water cannons at rock-throwing migrants, there are still nightly attempts by groups to push their way through through the barbed wire fences at the border. Read more

Polish border guards said there were 134 attempts to cross the Belarusian border on Monday.

Reporting by Alan Charlish, Anna Koper and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Alison Williams and Lisa Shumaker

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