Polish border guards and soldiers rescued four Middle Eastern migrants after receiving a distress call that they had become stuck in a bog after illegally crossing the border from Belarus.
The migrants sent out an emergency SMS message to the aid organisation “Ocalenie” after getting stuck in the swampy area near the village of Siemianowka, close to the Belarussian border. Polish authorities were only able to locate them through the use of a drone.
“We are in danger. Please do everything you can to get to us. If necessary, call the police,” the migrants wrote to the aid group. They also said they wanted to apply for asylum in Poland, Kronen Zeitung reports.
On Twitter, the Polish border guard service wrote on Wednesday that the rescue operation took several hours and that the four illegal immigrants who were retrieved were from Syria and Iraq. Two of the migrants were later taken to hospital.
The incident comes as groups of migrants still attempt to cross the Polish border illegally from Belarus on a regular basis, some of them in a highly aggressive, and sometimes violent, manner.
Earlier this week, Stanisław Żaryn, Director of the National Security Department, commented on the ongoing situation along the border, saying: “Although the numbers [attempting to cross] change, the methods remain the same – migrants, always in groups, encouraged and directly aided by Belarusian services – storm the Polish border with full aggression.”
“Stones and rubble delivered by Belarusians, logs, metal poles from destroyed border fencing are used as weapons against the Polish border patrols,” Mr Żaryn added.
Over the weekend, a Polish border guard was injured after a group of around 55 migrants crossed the border and attacked border guards with stones and rocks. The guard was struck in the face by one of the migrants throwing a stone.
Last week, the Polish government released footage of illegals throwing objects at border guards as well as hurling insults toward them, with one migrant stating in English: “Fuck your mothers, fuck your sisters!”