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Poland advises its citizens to leave Belarus
Warsaw said on Monday (Oct 10) that Polish citizens in Belarus should leave the country, as relations between the two countries become increasingly tense in part due to the war in Ukraine.
The advice follows a similar recommendation given in September to Poles in Russia, a close ally of Belarus, Reuters reported, the al-Arabiya said.
The government said in guidance for travelers published on its website: “We recommend that Polish citizens staying on the territory of the Republic of Belarus leave its territory with available commercial and private means.”
Relations between Warsaw and Minsk deteriorated in 2021 when Poland accused its eastern neighbor of orchestrating a migrant crisis on its border and have become even more strained since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Warsaw says that the Polish minority in Belarus faces repression from the state, with some community leaders having been imprisoned.
Following Russian Invasion of Ukraine on Feb 24, Poland has offered a warm welcome for Ukrainian refugees.
Last July, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Felipe González Morales said following an official visit to Poland and Belarus, “over 2 million refugees currently stay in Poland and most of them are hosted as guests in private homes by Polish people.”
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Last August, the Polish border service reported that 5.5 million people left Ukraine for Poland since the beginning of the war.
Poland has already spent almost 1% of its GDP on helping Ukrainians. 70% of Poles helped Ukrainians in various ways: they sheltered in their homes, provided clothes or hygiene products, transferred money to humanitarian funds, etc, according to Visit Ukraine.
levantnews-alarabiya
