Polish lawmakers OK anti-migrant wall on Belarus border

Poland's lawmakers have approved the speedy construction of a $402 million barrier on the European Union member's border with Belarus to stop the increasing flow of migrants

WARSAW, Poland -- Poland’s lawmakers on Friday approved the speedy construction of a $402 million barrier on the European Union member’s border with Belarus, seeking to stop the increasing flow of migrants.

Now the plan proposed by the right-wing government only needs the approval from President Andrzej Duda, a government ally. Construction of the wall with motion sensors is to start upon the approval.

Poland and other EU nations are accusing the Belarusian regime of President Alexander Lukashenko of encouraging and aiding migrants from the Mideast and Africa to seek entry into the EU through their borders with Belarus. It says the government in Minsk is seeking to destabilize the whole bloc in retaliation for Western sanctions.

Some migrants, chiefly from Iraq and Syria, have died from exhaustion near Poland's border with Belarus, which runs over 400 kilometers (250 miles) through forest, bogs and along the Bug River.