EU stops 186 illegal migrants at Belarus border

September 26, BPN. Over the past 24 hours, European Union countries have not allowed 186 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reported that 109 migrants were turned away in the Belarusian-Lithuanian border area on September 25. Since the beginning of the year, 7,863 illegal attempts to cross the border have been recorded in Lithuania.

The Lithuanian service, citing Latvia’s State Border Guard, reported that 11 illegal attempts to cross the Belarusian-Latvian border were recorded.

The Polish Border Guard said on Twitter that 66 foreigners tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus. Poland detained four Ukrainian facilitators trying to drive in eight Syrians and one Yemeni.

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.