Poland denies 'pushback' of pregnant Eritrean woman

Poland has denied that a large Eritrean pistillate gave commencement unsocial astatine the Poland-Belarus borderline aft activists said soldiers had "pushed her back".

Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Duszczyk told the BBC the pistillate came to the Polish borderline with her newborn and was taken to hospital.

But activists said she had antecedently tried to participate Poland and had been successful the forested borderline country for a month.

The caller Polish authorities has vowed a "more humanitarian" borderline policy.

But activists accidental that Polish borderline guards are continuing to propulsion backmost migrants who are attempting to transverse the borderline from Belarus. Poland accuses Belarus of encouraging the travel of migrants arsenic an enactment of "hybrid warfare".

Mr Duszczyk said it would beryllium virtually intolerable for a pistillate to unrecorded successful the wood for a period successful precise acold temperatures and springiness commencement alone.

He said borderline guards took her to infirmary successful Hajnówka, adjacent to the border, erstwhile they recovered her.

However Adam Barwiński from Grupa Granica - an organisation of activists and quality rights workers who assistance radical trying to transverse the borderline - told the BBC that the 38-year aged pistillate told the organisation that she had approached Polish soldiers aft crossing the borderline obstruction but had been denied introduction into Poland.

Mr Barwiński said the woman, who didn't privation to beryllium named, had besides told them that she'd been connected the roadworthy for galore years "searching for a harmless place", and earlier coming to the Polish borderline from Belarus, she had spent respective years successful exile camps successful Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. She had fixed commencement unsocial successful the forest, Grupa Granica said.

"This play indispensable end, nary 1 should beryllium forced to springiness commencement nether specified circumstances," said Mr Barwiński.

On Saturday activists said she had near infirmary and was successful an flat with her baby.

Mr Duszczyk denied that the authorities of Donald Tusk was continuing pushbacks and said its apical precedence was "zero deaths astatine the border".

"When the Eritrean parent and babe were taken successful by soldiers astatine the borderline and sent to hospital, she asked for planetary protection, and we've started the process nether EU law," helium said

"We bash our champion to assistance teenagers and women, and since January this year, we've accepted 350 migrants asking for planetary protection," helium added.

In January much than 100 NGOs and 500 activists and taste figures urged Mr Tusk to extremity pushbacks and said his authorities was condoning quality rights violations if it did not bash so.

However activistic Iwo Los, besides from Grupa Granica, said the signifier was continuing.

His organisation said borderline guards had pushed backmost much than 1,700 radical since December. Some 25 of these radical were inactive missing and 5 were known to person died, it alleged.

Mr Duszczyk said the Polish authorities was facing an "organised, instrumentalised migration war" being carried retired by Belarus.

Poland alleges that since 2021 Belarus has been encouraging radical from the Middle East and Africa to question to Belarus and past transverse the borderline illegally to Poland.

In 2021 the European Union accused Belarus's authoritarian person President Alexander Lukashenko of facilitating the influx successful retaliation against sanctions.

"We're trying to harvester information with humanitarianism portion redeeming our borderline successful enactment with EU law," Mr Duszczyk said.