Poland: some 600 migrant crossings into EU foiled this year

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s Border Guard authorities say that almost 600 attempts by migrants at crossing from Belarus have been foiled so far this year. The attempts have continued since the peak in the fall, but the number of registered tries has dropped significantly, to dozens a day from nearly a thousand a day in November. Border guards said that on Monday, 23 migrants were detained after having crossed the razor-wire barriers into Poland, a European Union member. They were from Syria, Iraq, Cuba, the Palestinian territories and Turkmenistan. Earlier, Yemenis were also detained. Poland and the EU say the migrant pressure was organized by the Belarus government to destabilize the 27-member bloc.