This archive report was first published on 17 November 2021.
Poland's Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak warned on Wednesday that the migrant crisis on the Belarusian border could last for months or even years.
Blaszczak made the statement a day after Polish forces used tear gas and water cannon to deter stone-throwing migrants.
According to Blaszczak, attempts to cross the border had continued during the night, with migrants using the same 'method of attacking the Polish border' as seen on Tuesday at the Bruzgi-Kuznica border crossing.
Polish police said nine officers, a border guard, and a soldier were hurt during Tuesday's clashes, although no officers were still in hospital on Wednesday.
Belarus and Russia condemned the action taken by Polish forces on Tuesday, with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin rejecting accusations that they were engineering the crisis to divide the EU and hit back against sanctions.
However, the West has accused Belarus of luring thousands of migrants, mainly from Iraq and Syria, with the promise of an easy crossing into the EU and then forcing them to stay at the border.
Eastern EU members Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland have all refused to take the migrants, leaving many stranded for weeks in forested borderlands.
Following pressure from the EU, several airlines have said they will now stop transporting would-be migrants to Belarus.
Meanwhile, Iraq has said it will start voluntary repatriations of its citizens from Belarus this week, and the EU border agency Frontex is working with the Polish and Iraqi authorities on arranging charter flights from Poland.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko discussed the crisis with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday, in his first phone call with a Western leader since he suppressed mass protests against his rule last year.
However, Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller said the conversation was 'not a good step' and appeared to be 'an acceptance of his choice', referring to Lukashenko.
Thousands of migrants are staying on the border in what the West says is a crisis engineered by Belarus, with aid groups saying at least 11 migrants have died on both sides of the border since the crisis began in the summer.
Visiting areas near the border on the Polish side, the Council of Europe human rights commissioner Dunja Mijatovic said the situation was 'extremely dangerous'.
She called for a humanitarian response to the crisis, saying 'we need to find a way to de-escalate, to make sure the focus is really to stop the suffering.'
According to the Belarus Red Cross, some 1,000 migrants are being put up in a 'logistical centre' close to the Bruzgi-Kuznica checkpoint, while another 800 are still in a makeshift camp near the border.
