Sharjah24 – AFP: The United States on Monday called for Belarus to stop "orchestrating" an influx of migrants at the Polish border, blaming strongman Alexander Lukashenko for the "coercion of vulnerable people."
"We call on the (Lukashenko) regime to immediately halt its campaign of orchestrating and coercing irregular migrant flows across its borders into Europe," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
The European Union has also accused Lukashenko of facilitating the wave of migrants and refugees, mainly from the Middle East, in retaliation for sanctions imposed by Brussels.
Poland, an EU and NATO member, on Monday said it had repelled an attempt by hundreds of migrants to illegally cross its border with Belarus.
"The United States strongly condemns the Lukashenka regime's political exploitation and coercion of vulnerable people and the regime's callous and inhumane facilitation of irregular migration flows across its borders," Price said.
NATO has also slammed as "unacceptable" Belarus's use of migrants to put pressure on the EU, saying it was worried about "escalation" on the border with Poland.
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