Syrian man’s body found at border of Belarus and Poland

A Syrian man’s body was found at the border of Belarus and Poland on Saturday amid international concerns about a growing migrant crisis in that area. 

Polish police said on Twitter that the body was found in a forest near Wolka Terechowska, according to Reuters. Police were unable to determine the cause of death at the scene.

Polish police also said that around 100 migrants attempted to cross the border in the same area where the man was found, according to Agence France Presse (AFP). However, the migrants fled after seeing authorities.

The body comes amid a mounting crisis, which has seen migrants from the Middle East sheltering on Belarus’s border with Poland.

Eleven people have been found dead on both sides of the border as of Saturday, per AFP. 

The European Union (EU) has accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of causing the crisis in response to sanctions imposed by Western countries. On Tuesday, the spokesperson for the EU’s executive branch claimed Belarus was telling migrants to come to the border.

Belarus, meanwhile has blamed the crisis on the European bloc. The Russian government, which has been supporting Belarus through the crisis, has said the same.

Lukashenko made headlines on Thursday when he suggested shutting off the Yamal gas pipeline, which carries Russian natural gas to Poland and Germany through Belarus, as the EU threatens sanctions over the migrant crisis.

“We are heating Europe, they are still threatening us that they will close the border. And if we shut off natural gas there?” the Belarusian president said in part. “Therefore, I would recommend that the Polish leadership, Lithuanians and other headless people think before speaking.”