EU stops 163 illegal migrants at Belarus border

September 24, Pozirk. The European Union (EU) has not allowed at least 163 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day, up 36 from one day earlier.

While the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service registered no border violations on September 13, their Latvian colleagues thwarted 123 attempts to cross into the EU.

The Polish Border Guard said 40 foreigners, including Syrians and Ethiopians, tried to illegally enter from Belarus.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded at least 31,941 attempts by illegal migrants to penetrate from the country, with 21,037 attempts via Poland, 9,192 via Latvia and 1,712 via Lithuania. Illegal migrants attempted to cross the Belarusian-EU border as many as 3,172 times in September.

BPN‘s analysis of daily stats indicated growing tension at the Belarusian-EU border, with Poland being the prime target. Illegal border crossing attempts peaked at 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.

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