Poland to increase troop numbers on Belarus border to around 10,000

FILE PHOTO: Polish police officers examine vehicles at a checkpoint on entry to the prohibited state of emergency zone, created to better manage an ongoing migrant crisis on the Belarusian-Polish border near Bialowieza, Poland October 14, 2021. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland is increasing the number of troops on its border with Belarus to around 10,000, its defence minister said on Monday, as the country tries to stem a surge in migration which it blames on Minsk.

Hundreds of people from places like Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa have been trying to cross the border illegally every day, and Poland has beefed up security in the region, brushing aside criticism that it is treating the migrants inhumanely.