EU stops 111 illegal migrants at Belarus border

August 25, BPN. The European Union (EU) has not allowed at least 111 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day. 

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service did not register any border violations on August 24, but said their Latvian colleagues thwarted 53 attempts.

The Polish Border Guard said 58 foreigners, including nationals of India, Iran, Yemen and Syria, tried to illegally enter from Belarus. 

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded at least 28,059 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory from Belarus, with 20,045 attempts via Poland, 6,451 via Latvia and 1,563 via Lithuania. Illegal migrants attempted to cross the Belarusian-EU border as many as 3,785 times in August.

BPN’s analysis of daily stats indicated growing tension at the Belarusian-EU border, with Poland being the prime target. Illegal border crossing attempts rose from 1,989 in January and 1,970 in February to 3,701 in June and 5,054 in July.

The migration crisis at the Belarusian-EU border dates back to the spring of 2021. It escalated in November 2021, with thousands of migrants setting up a camp near the Polish border. The Baltic states and Poland accused Belarusian authorities of creating the trouble, while the latter blamed it on the West.

Migration figures had dropped significantly by the time Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but have risen more recently.