• Most of those detained are Afghan and Pakistani citizens, with others from India, Nepal, and Bangladesh

WARSAW

Polish border guards on Friday detained over 130 irregular migrants after discovering an underground tunnel through which they illegally crossed the Polish–Belarusian border, authorities said.

More than 180 foreigners are believed to have entered Poland through the tunnel, with searches ongoing for those who have not yet been apprehended, the Polish Press Agency (PAP) reported, citing Border Guard spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Andrzej Juzwiak, who also confirmed that the passage ran beneath the border barrier and an adjacent technical road.

The tunnel was discovered near the village of Narewka in the Podlasie region by officers of the Podlasie Border Guard Unit, he added.

“The tunnel, several dozen meters long and approximately 1.5 meters high, had its entrance concealed in the forest around 50 meters on the Belarusian side of the border,” Juzwiak said. “The exit was located roughly 10 meters from the barrier on the Polish side.”

He explained that electronic surveillance systems detected unusual activity, allowing officers to determine that a large group had passed through the tunnel in a short period of time. "As a result of immediate actions, over 130 people have been detained so far."

In addition to Border Guard officers, soldiers, police units, and service dogs are conducting the search operation to find the remaining 50 irregular migrants.

According to the Border Guard, most of those detained are Afghan and Pakistani citizens, with others from India, Nepal, and Bangladesh.

Authorities have also detained two suspected facilitators: a 69-year-old Malopolska resident and a 49-year-old Lithuanian citizen. The men allegedly waited to transport the irregular migrants further west into Europe. Further legal proceedings against them are currently underway.

The Border Guard released video footage of the tunnel, claiming that it is the fourth such underground passage discovered along the Polish-Belarusian border this year.

The Polish-Belarusian border has been a source of migration tension since 2021, when Poland accused Belarus of orchestrating irregular migration flows as part of a "hybrid operation" against the European Union.

In response, Poland built a steel barrier, increased surveillance infrastructure, and established restricted zones that limited access to border areas.

Despite these security measures, authorities have reported multiple attempts to circumvent the barrier, including cutting, climbing, and now tunneling beneath it.

Human rights organizations have criticized Poland's border regime, particularly the use of pushbacks and limited access for humanitarian groups and journalists, while the government claims that strict controls are required to protect national and EU security.