Some migrants still try to enter Poland after Belarus camps cleared

Migrants still tried crossing overnight from Belarus, although in smaller numbers and smaller groups, Polish authorities said on Friday, a day after Belarus cleared the main camps where people from the Middle East had huddled at the border.

Thursday's clearing of the camp, and the first repatriation flight to Iraq in months, appeared to signal a change of tack by Minsk that could help calm a crisis that has spiralled in recent weeks into a major East-West confrontation.

Poland's Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak told private broadcaster Polsat there were still attempts to cross after the camp was cleared, but in smaller groups than before when hundreds would sometimes try to push through the fence at once.

Poland's Border Guard said in a tweet that there had been 250 crossing attempts over the past day, half as many as the day before. They did not specify how many had taken place after the camps were cleared on Thursday afternoon.

European countries accuse Belarus of deliberately flying in thousands of migrants from the Middle East and pushing them to cross the border illegally. Belarus denies fomenting the crisis. Around 10 migrants are believed to have died camping in the woods near the border, Reuters reported.