The death of three young Chechen girls during an illegal border crossing has prompted Polish authorities to tighten security at border crossings.

Bogdan Zaryn reports

Polish prosecutors have been questioning the mother of three Chechen girls  who were found dead after trying to illegally cross in Poland. Poland’s first lady has offered to help  the mother and her son get refugee status if need be. The woman has taken up Maria Kaczynska’s offer and will apply for refugee status. This fatal border crossing raises the question of just how secure are Poland’s eastern borders.

Agencies say that Polish investigators questioned  36 year old Kamisa Jamaldinova in her hospital room in the southeastern town of Ustrzyki Dolne. This is where she and her two year boy have been receiving medical care ever since Polish border guards found  this mother of four in the southeastern mountain area last week. Kamisa and her three girls and one boy got lost in the mountains  after crossing from Ukraine to Poland. Reports say that she left her three girls in the hope of finding help. She found Polish border guards and  returned to the spot  where she had left her three daughters but, it was too late. They died. Upon hearing of the tragedy Poland’s first lady Maria Kaczynyska went to visit Kamisa and offered to help.

“Poland wants to definitely help this woman because I have never met anyone who has suffered so much. And I think it’s really hard to believe what she actually feels in her heart.”

The Eastern border of Poland stretches approximately 1280 kilometers, the same distance between Florence and Brussels when driven by car. It borders four countries: Russia , the Kaliningrad enclave, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine. Anna Wojcik from one of several   border guard stations in the East says that illegal border crossing have been on the decline ever since Poland joined the EU.

“We are still understaffed but we are getting new personnel. We also have modern equipment. During the last three years the number of illegal migrants to Poland has decreased, especially in my region of Poland, the eastern Podlaskie region. For instance ten years ago the number of illegal migrants was on the level of 20 groups per year. Now it is about two groups per year.”

Dr. Pawel Kaczmarczyk from the Institute of Social Studies in Warsaw says that Poland is still a popular transit country for illegal migrants.

“It has a lot to do with transit routes for illegal migrants , especially those from Asia. In the 90”s Poland was a rather important transit country for illegal migrants. But afterwards it changed. Of course it happens like the situation that happened a few days ago. Poland is important for people from Chechnya. People from Chechnya and this is the most important thing , for those people there are very small chances to receive  refugee status in Poland because Russia is still perceived as a safe country , according to Poland regulations.

Reports say that Kamisa  and her two year old son have asked for refugee status. The southeastern mountains are a favored crossing point for illegal migrants. Polish border guards have arrested over 300 people  in  the first six months of this year.