More migrants reach Germany via ‘Belarus route’

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — German authorities say that the number of migrants arriving in the country via Poland and Belarus has gone up quickly during recent months. German federal police said Wednesday that more than 4,300 people illegally crossed the border from Poland this year. Most of the migrants are coming from Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Iran. The German news agency dpa reported that from January to July only 26 people traveling via the “Belarus route” were registered. The report said that 474 arrived in August, 1,914 in September and 1,934 in the first 11 days of October. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other European Union leaders have accused the Belarusian regime of facilitating large-scale migration into the EU to destabilize the bloc.