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Western members of the UN Security Council have condemned Belarus for the escalating crisis over migrants stranded on its border with Poland, BBC reported. 

In a strongly worded statement, they accused Belarus of using the migrants to destabilise the European Union's eastern border. Russia, Belarus's main ally, rejected the accusations.

It is reminded that thousands of people, many of them Kurds arriving from the Middle East, are camping at the border with Poland, enduring freezing conditions in the hope of crossing into the EU. 

At Thursday's emergency UN Security Council meeting, Western member states issued a joint statement, accusing Belarus of putting migrants' lives in danger "for political purposes".

They also said Belarus was trying to divert "attention away from its own increasing human rights violations".

The statement was issued by France, the UK and the US, all permanent Council members. They were joined by Albania, Estonia and the Republic of Ireland.

Russia, also a permanent Council member, rejected the accusations and blamed Poland and neighbouring Lithuania for mistreating migrants. The five permanent members of the UN Security Council all have the right to veto resolutions.