Polish church urges help for migrants amid border crisis

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s influential Catholic Church has appealed for humanitarian assistance for migrants from Iraq, Syria and elsewhere who have been seeking to reach Europe by crossing from Belarus into Poland. The president of the Polish Bishops’ Conference called on Monday for permission to launch humanitarian corridors in order to control the relocation of refugees and put an end to chaotic migration happening “at the hands of gangs of smugglers.” Church authorities have been largely aligned with Poland’s conservative government and the statement appeared to be a reproach of the way the state authorities have been pushing back migrants and refugees arriving at the country’s border in recent months.