POLAND IMPOSES CHECKS ON GERMAN AND LITHUANIAN BORDERS – In an effort to stem an increasing number of undocumented migrants
Poland introduced temporary controls on its borders with Germany and Lithuania on Monday in an effort to stem what the government says is an increasing number of undocumented migrants crossing from the north and west.
The re-imposition of border checks is just the latest example of how mounting public concerns across the European Union over migration are straining the fabric of the bloc’s passport-free Schengen zone.
The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany itself have already implemented similar measures.
In Poland, the debate over migration has become increasingly heated in recent weeks, with groups of activists launching “citizens’ patrols” on the western border amid Polish media reports of German authorities sending undocumented migrants back across the frontier.
Public sentiment in Poland towards migrants has hardened since a 24-year-old woman was killed in the city of Torun by a Venezuelan citizen in June. On Sunday some 10,000 people took part in a march organised by nationalist activists in remembrance of her.
