Belarus is employing “specialists from the Middle East” to dig tunnels under its border with Poland. The tunnels are used by migrants to enter the EU country illegally, as Minsk continues to weaponise immigration.

Polish authorities arrested around 130 migrants last week as they emerged from a tunnel. The entrance to the underground passage was located in a forest on the Belarusian side and was 50 metres from the border. Its exit was just 10 metres inside Polish territory. It measured roughly 100 metres long and about 1.5 metres high.

This is fourth such tunnel discovered this year by officers of the Podlaskie Branch of the Border Guard.

Poland’s deputy Interior Minister Czesław Mroczek claimed migrants were being forced to dig tunnels due to the success of enhanced border controls.

“Digging these tunnels means that our effectiveness in stopping migration is so high that it was decided to bring in specialists from the Middle East to dig them,” he explained.

“In short, we have people there who are experienced in such activities, and because previous methods have failed, they are trying to enter through tunnels. We are prepared for this. We are reconfiguring the entire system to detect underground activity.”

Belarus has been encouraging and helping tens of thousands of migrants to cross the border in what experts say is part of a hybrid war campaign.

Most of the migrants are from the Middle East and Africa, according to Polish officials.

To help contain the problem, Poland has built physical and electronic barriers along the border.

The government also introduced last year a tougher migration strategy, including temporarily limiting the right to claim asylum.

Interior minister Marcin Kierwiński said on Thursday that “migrants from Kurdistan are involved in digging these tunnels.”

But he made clear that it is the Belarusian authorities that are ultimately responsible