EU stops 143 illegal migrants at Belarus border

October 5, Pozirk. The European Union (EU) has not allowed at least 143 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service registered 23 border violations, while their Latvian colleagues thwarted 73 attempts.

The Polish Border Guard said 47 foreigners, Iranians and Syrians among them, tried to illegally enter from Belarus.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded at least 34,030 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory from Belarus, with 21,549 attempts via Poland, 10,574 via Latvia and 1,907 via Lithuania. Illegal migrants attempted to cross the Belarusian-EU border as many as 806 times in October.

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 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.