EU stops 151 illegal migrants at Belarus border

September 6, BPN. Over the past 24 hours, the European Union countries have not allowed 151 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reported that 78 migrants were turned away at the Belarusian-Lithuanian border on September 5, while their Latvian colleagues thwarted 33 attempts. A total of 5,900 attempts have been recorded in Lithuania in 2022.

The Polish Border Guard tweeted that 40 nationals of Bangladesh, Yemen and Tajikistan tried to cross from Belarus. Two nationals of Uzbekistan transporting eight Afghans, who had illegally crossed the Belarusian-Polish border, have been arrested at the border checkpoint in Mielnik.

The migration crisis at the Belarusian-EU border dates back to the spring of 2021. It escalated on November 8, 2021, when thousands of migrants set up a camp near the Polish border. The Baltic states and Poland accused Belarusian authorities of creating the trouble at the border, while the latter blamed it on the West.

Migration figures had dropped
significantly by the time Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, but have risen
more recently.