(AP) German authorities said Wednesday that the number of migrants arriving in the country via Poland and Belarus has gone up during the months that several European Union nations have accused the Belarusian government of encouraging people to cross into the EU from its territory.
German federal police said more than 4,300 people illegally crossed the border from Poland this year, with most of the migrants coming from Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Iran, German news agency dpa reported. EU member Poland has accused neighboring Belarus of encouraging largescale migration to destabilize the 27-nation bloc.
Germany’s federal police said that from January to July this year, 26 people traveling by the “Belarus route” arrived in Germany without authorization. The number grew to 474 in August, 1,914 in September and 1,934 during the first 11 days of October, the federal police said.
