Poland starts building wall on border with Belarus

Poland has started building a US$394 million wall on its eastern border intended to block migrants pushed by Belarus, in what the European Union calls a 'hybrid attack,' from crossing illegally into EU territory.

Reporters were allowed to see the work in the guarded area on Thursday.

Pressure from thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Africa on Poland's and Lithuania's wooded border with Belarus began in the summer, leading to clashes with Poland's border guards. Poland has sealed its border with Belarus using razor wire and increased the number of guards. International efforts have been taken to warn off migrants seeking to enter the EU from Belarus. The migrants are mostly headed for Germany.

The EU says the migrants are being used by Belarus' authoritarian leader to destabilize the 27-member bloc in retaliation for the West's sanctions on Minsk following an election internationally consider as rigged, and a clampdown on opposition.

At least 12 migrants have died in the bogs and forests of the border area and conditions have gotten worse in the sub-freezing winter temperatures.