EU stops 168 illegal migrants at Belarus border

September 21, Pozirk. The European Union (EU) has not allowed at least 168 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service recorded 21 illegal attempts to cross the border on September 20, while their Latvian colleagues thwarted 104 attempts. On September 19, Latvia closed the Silene border checkpoint until further notice, citing a surge in illegal migration from Belarus.

The Polish Border Guard said 43 foreigners, including nationals of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran and Syria, tried to illegally enter from Belarus. 

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded at least 31,489 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory from Belarus, with 20,946 attempts via Poland, 8,842 via Latvia and 1,701 via Lithuania. Illegal migrants attempted to cross the Belarusian-EU border as many as 2,720 times in September.

Pozirk‘s analysis of daily stats indicated growing tension at the Belarusian-EU border, with Latvia turning into the prime target. Illegal border crossing attempts rose from 1,989 in January and 1,970 in February to 5,054 in July and 4.495 in August.

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.

On August 28, interior ministers of Poland and the Baltic States agreed to close their borders to Belarus in case of a surge in illegal migration.