How Poland turned itself into a fortress with 116-mile razor wire-topped wall after Putin sent migrants to border in hybrid war tactic – as Warsaw bans asylum claims to ‘take back control’

In the months before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a different kind of war was already raging in Europe.

Poland was struggling to cope with what was described as a ‘hybrid attack’ from its Kremlin-aligned neighbour Belarus, which was sending waves upon waves of migrants across the border.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had urged migrants to forge a path further West and even began facilitating visas and travel from Middle Eastern countries to flood Western-aligned Poland with asylum seekers.

Warsaw responded decisively, breaking with longstanding EU migration policies by erecting a massive border wall.  

The structure, completed in June 2022, now spans a more than 116-mile-long stretch of the Polish-Belarusian border.

A five-metre-high metal fence scythes through the Polish countryside, covered with miles upon miles of barbs and topped with razor wire. 

State-of-the-art surveillance cameras and heat sensors are embedded along the wall to alert Poland’s swelling border force to any human presence.

Poland’s border checkpoints are also reinforced with huge concrete slabs, each weighing more than 1.5 tonnes, along with secondary walls and barbed-wire fencing. 

Yet this mammoth project, which is reported to have cost almost £300million, has still not discouraged the most determined of asylum seekers as almost 300 people were reported to have attempted to penetrate the border wall last week.

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk has therefore gone a step further, implementing an outright ban on the right to claim asylum in the country for at least 60 days as he insisted he would ‘take back control’ of his nation’s frontier. 

The so-called hybrid warfare tactic employed by Belarus came to a head in November 2021 when crowds of migrants gathered along the Polish border.

Heavily armed riot police and border security teams were dispatched to manage the ruckus which saw several attempts from migrants to break through then-incomplete border defences.

In one particularly shocking clash, some members of a group of more than 1,000 migrants tried to hack down a barbed-wire fence only to meet a phalanx of Polish guards who forced them back with pepper spray.

Poland’s then-Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said: ‘The Polish government is determined and we will defend the security of our country,’ labelling the action an ‘invasion’ orchestrated by Belarus.

The border wall was completed after months of work in June 2022, but the number of people lodging asylum claims in Poland has only continued to increase.

Footage emerged over the weekend of 280 migrants attempting to enter Poland from Belarus.

The group managed to slash a hole in the fence with a cutting torch before filtering through one by one.

But their stunning breakthrough was quickly put to a stop by heavily armed Polish border guards who descended on the scene in armoured vehicles.

The migrants were seen being detained while other troops began mending the fence.

Their brazen attempt to penetrate border defences proved the last straw for Tusk, who since ascending to the premiership for the second time in 2023 has sought to crack down on immigration.

Poland’s Prime Minister last night announced the right to claim asylum will be suspended for 60 days, though specified that exemptions will be made for unaccompanied minors, pregnant women, elderly or unwell people and anyone exposed to ‘real risk of serious harm’.

The two-month ban will come into force ‘without a moment’s delay’, Tusk said.

Error: Unset URL field

Polish President Andrzej Duda was reportedly hesitant to greenlight the suspension as he feared it could affect genuine refugees from Belarus.

But he ultimately pressed on with the ban after officials assured him provisions would be made to ensure those most in need could still claim asylum.

‘I decided that the so-called asylum act will come into force. I signed it because I believe it is necessary to strengthen the security of our borders.

‘The most important thing is to defend the Polish border and the Polish services that guard it.’

Since 2021, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Finland have seen a huge spike in the number of people illegally crossing their borders from Belarus and Russia.

The countries have accused both Vladimir Putin and Belarus’ Lukashenko of weaponing migration as part of efforts to destabilise the EU.

Over 15,000 people applied for asylum in Poland in 2024, 72 per cent more than a year earlier and the highest annual figure recorded since 2016.

After Ukrainians, the largest number of applicants last year were from Belarus – with 3,663 asylum seekers – and 823 Russians.

This is followed by Ethiopia, with 515, Eritrea with 505 and Somalia with 486. 

Poland’s suspension of the right to claim asylum move has come under significant scrutiny, with Human Rights Watch saying it ‘flies in the face of Poland’s international and EU obligations’ and could ‘effectively completely seal off the Poland-Belarus border, where Polish authorities already engage in unlawful and abusive pushbacks’. 

They have also urged the EU to take legal action against Poland once the law is implemented.

But Tusk had previously dismissed the concerns from activist and rights groups, saying: ‘Nobody is talking about violating human rights, the right to asylum, we are talking about not granting applications to people who illegally cross the border in groups organised by Lukashenko.’

In February, the Polish government confirmed they would not take part in the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, which the bloc implemented to manage the arrival of asylum seekers.

Under the agreement, states could either relocate a certain number of migrants, pay a financial contribution or provide operation support to help resettlement.

However, Poland and Hungary have opposed the measure, which is meant to be legally binding on all EU member states.

Tusk said: ‘Poland will not implement the Migration Pact in a way that would introduce additional quotas of immigrants in Poland.

‘We are ready to cooperate with everyone to protect Europe from illegal migration. However, Poland will not take on any additional burdens. We have already taken on more than anyone could have imagined just a few years ago.’

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen admitted Poland had done more than their fair share in taking in Ukrainian refugees since the 2022 Russian invasion.

Other EU member states are also taking steps to curb the rights of asylum seekers.

Finland has denied entry to any migrants crossing its border with Russia since 2023, while incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has promised to stop all irregular migration across Germany’s land borders on his first day in office.