Fifth migrant dies in Belarus border area - Polish Border Guard

FILE PHOTO: Polish border guard officers stand guard next to a group of migrants stranded on the border between Belarus and Poland near the village of Usnarz Gorny, Poland September 1, 2021. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo

WARSAW (Reuters) - An Iraqi migrant died after crossing into Poland from Belarus, Polish officials said on Friday, the fifth such death in the border area in the past week amid a surge in illegal migration across the European Union's eastern frontier.

Poland, Lithuania and the EU have accused Belarus of encouraging migrants, mostly from Iraq and Afghanistan, to cross the borders as a form of pressure on the bloc over sanctions Brussels has imposed on Minsk over human rights abuses.