EU stops 228 illegal migrants at Belarus border

November 6, BPN. Border guards prevented 228 migrants from entering the EU and turned them back to Belarus in the past 24 hours.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service said that 53 migrants were detained in the Belarusian-Lithuanian border area. Since January, Lithuania has recorded 10,056 illegal attempts to cross the border.

The Lithuanian service, citing Latvia’s State Border Guard, said 21 illegal attempts to cross the Belarusian-Latvian border were documented.

The Polish Border Guard tweeted that 154 foreigners tried to cross illegally from Belarus.

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, 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.