Warsaw, Nov 13 (IANS): A team of British engineering troops has been sent to Poland to help the country strengthen its border with Belarus in the wake of the stranded refugee crisis, authorities said here.

Taking to Twitter, Poland's Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said that "reconnaissance has begun ... our soldiers will cooperate in strengthening the fence on the Polish-Belarusian border", reports Xinhua news agency.

According to information obtained by the Polish news agency PAP from the Defence Ministry, the British soldiers are to determine the specific activities that they will take to support Poland during the migrant crisis.

The Ministry told PAP that the intention of the British contingent's actions is to be "a manifestation of allied solidarity".

It tweeted on Friday that Polish army units had built over 180 km of fencing on the country's border with Belarus to keep out migrants from the Middle East, saying the fence was "effectively hindering illegal attempts to force the border".