EU stops 162 illegal migrants at Belarus border

September 22, Pozirk. The European Union (EU) has not allowed at least 162 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service has not reported any border violations on September 21 but said their Latvian colleagues thwarted 128 attempts. 

The Polish Border Guard said 34 foreigners tried to illegally enter from Belarus. A group of foreigners reportedly attacked border guards throwing stones and branches at them. 

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded at least 31,651 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory from Belarus, with 20,980 attempts via Poland, 8,970 via Latvia and 1,701 via Lithuania. Illegal migrants attempted to cross the Belarusian-EU border as many as 2,882 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.