Poland to end state of emergency along border with Belarus

By VANESSA GERA
Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s government is lifting a state of emergency along the border with Belarus on July 1 as it completes a border wall aimed at stopping migrants. However, Poland will still ban people from getting within 200 meters of the border with Belarus as workers install electronics onto the 5 1/2-meter (18-foot) high steel wall. Poland began building the wall and restricting movement in the area to most citizens after large numbers of migrants began crossing from Belarus into European Union nations Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Human rights groups have accused Poland’s government of having double standards — wholeheartedly welcoming Ukrainian war refugees while allowing dark-skinned asylum-seekers to die along the border.