Migrant crisis may last for years, says Poland

A day after Polish forces used tear gas and water cannons against migrants at Poland-Belarus border, Poland said on Wednesday that migrant crisis could last for months or even years. Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak there were more attempts to cross the border during the night.

Thousands of migrants, mainly from the Middle East, are staying on the border in what the West says is a crisis engineered by Belarus to try to divide the EU and hit back against sanctions.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and his ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin have refuted the allegations. They have criticised the European Union for not taking in the migrants.

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"We have to prepare for the fact that the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border will not be resolved quickly. We have to prepare for months or even years," Blaszczak told Poland's Radio Jedynka.

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Blaszczak said attempts to cross the border had continued during the night, adding that migrants had used the same "method of attacking the Polish border" as seen on Tuesday at the Bruzgi-Kuznica border crossing.

"The public attention focused on what happened in Kuznica, while smaller groups of migrants tried to break through the Polish border in other sections, also at night," he said.

The border guard service said it had detected 161 illegal crossing attempts on Tuesday, including "two forceful attempts".

Polish police said nine officers, a border guard and a soldier were hurt during Tuesday's clashes -- though no officers were still in hospital on Wednesday.

Belarus and Russia condemned the use of tear gas and water cannon, which came a day after the EU and US said they were expanding sanctions against Belarus.

The West has accused Belarus of luring thousands of migrants, many from Iraq and Syria, with the promise of an easy crossing into the EU and then forcing them to stay at the border.

Eastern EU members Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have all refused to take the migrants, leaving many stranded for weeks in forested borderlands.

(With inputs from agencies)