Dangerous individuals among the migrants
27.09.2021
Among the people who have illegally crossed the Polish border with Belarus and thus entered the territory of Poland there is a considerable number of those who have a criminal record and pose a serious threat to national security. These are the findings of competent Polish services in charge of investigating the background and origins of foreigners who have been detained by the Polish Border Guard in recent weeks. As many as two thirds of these illegal migrants have been selected for further, “deep” verification due to the information suggesting they may put the security of Poland at risk.
During today’s press conference, the Minister of Interior and Administration, Special Services Coordinator Mariusz Kamiński has presented the findings made by the Polish services with regard to illegal migrants who have entered the territory of our country in recent weeks.
Several hundred illegal migrants kept in guarded centres for foreigners were subjected to verification. One in four turned out to have with them data carriers of different kind with photos or text messages implying that these people had a criminal past, including ties to terrorist organisations. They all come from “high risk” countries.
One of the checked migrants was Yousufi H., an Afghan national. He was detained by the Polish authorities on July 13th, 2021, after having illegally crossed the Belarus-Poland border. He had arrived to Belarus from Dubai via Moscow. The check carried out by the Polish services revealed that he had with him photos documenting an execution by decapitation and dead bodies as well as pictures of weapons, including a considerable number of the AK assault rifles.
Mohammad S., a man from Iraq detained by the Polish Border Guard on August 8th, 2021, had a picture of an armed man wearing a balaclava and a bulletproof vest, which may point to him having ties to a militia.
Husham H. – another illegal migrant from Iraq – was detained in Poland on August 9th, 2021. He had arrived to Belarus on a flight from Baghdad to Minsk and then crossed the Polish border. This man was found to be in touch with a person with ties to the Islamic State.
An SD card found by the Polish services during the search of a different migrant contained a number of photos of the members of an extremist group called Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The materials secured by the competent Polish authorities suggest that Russia emerges as more and more important point on the illegal migratory route to Poland and the European Union. Some of the detainees had photos documenting their long-standing relationship with Russia.
Some of the carriers and storage devices investigated by the Polish services contained also a pornographic content presenting acts of paedophilia and zoophilia, including the evidence of a personal involvement of concrete people in such deviant conduct.
The analysis of testimonies obtained from the illegal migrants suggests that these people might have been instructed on how to act and what to say after being detained by the Polish authorities, as some parts of their statements sound very much alike. In addition, some of the detainees attempt to erase the pictures and other content that could incriminate them from their phones or storage devices.
The aforementioned materials found by the Polish authorities demonstrate the scale of threats posed by the hostile efforts made by the regime of Alexander Lukashenko. The migratory route via Belarus and Russia may be used by dangerous individuals to penetrate the European Union. Their presence on the territory of Poland may pose a serious national security threat.
Spokesman for Poland’s Minister-Special Services Coordinator