SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Russia criticises Polish use of tear gas on migrants
Moscow, Nov 16 (AFP) Nov 16, 2021
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday said the use of tear gas and water cannon by Polish forces to stop migrants entering from Belarus was "absolutely unacceptable".

"The behaviour of the Polish side is absolutely unacceptable," he told a press conference in Moscow, citing "tear gas and a water cannon and shots fired above the heads of migrants towards the direction of Belarus".

Thousands of migrants have camped at the Poland-Belarus border in a crisis Brussels says was orchestrated by Minsk possibly with the backing of Moscow.

Minsk and Moscow deny the claims and Russia has stood by its ally in the stand-off.

Polish forces fired tear gas at stone-throwing migrants trying to cross the border from Belarus on Tuesday, Warsaw said.

Warsaw said a Polish police officer was seriously injured in the border clashes.

Polish border guards estimate up to 4,000 migrants are now camped out along its border with Belarus in increasingly dire conditions and freezing temperatures.

Most of the migrants are from the Middle East, with many from Iraqi Kurdistan.

Iraq's embassy in Moscow said Tuesday that it will fly out around 200 people from Belarus on Thursday

Baghdad had earlier said it would organise repatriations on a "voluntary" basis.

At least 11 migrants have died on both sides since the influx started in the summer.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Maven stays silent after routine pass behind Mars
Sun boundary map tracks shifting Alfven surface over solar cycle
Mission Space to fly second space weather payload with Rogue Space

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Molecular contacts push tandem solar cells to 31.4 percent efficiency
Asymmetric side chain design boosts thick film organic solar cell efficiency
New analysis links lead cooled reactor corrosion to steel microstructure

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Autonomous DARPA project to expand satellite surveillance network by BAE Systems
Momentus joins US Space Force SHIELD contract vehicle
IAEA calls for repair work on Chernobyl sarcophagus

24/7 News Coverage
UAlbany Atmospheric Scientist Proposes Innovative Method to Reduce Aviation's Climate Impact
Digital twin successfully launched and deployed into space
Robots that spare warehouse workers the heavy lifting



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.