Poland requests state of emergency on Belarus border amid migrant surge

FILE PHOTO: Polish police officer stands guard next to a group of migrants stranded on the border between Belarus and Poland near the village of Usnarz Gorny, Poland August 26, 2021. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

WARSAW (Reuters) -The Polish government asked the president on Tuesday to declare a state of emergency in two regions on its border with Belarus after the Polish Border Guard said hundreds of illegal crossings had taken place this month.

Poland began building a barbed wire fence last week along the border in an effort to curb the flow of migrants from countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan crossing from Belarus.