EU stops 61 illegal migrants at Belarus border

December 16, BPN. The EU has not allowed 61 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reported that it turned away five migrants in the Lithuanian-Belarusian border area. Since the beginning of the year, Lithuania has recorded 11,090 illegal attempts to cross the border.

The Lithuanian service, citing Latvia’s State Border Guard, said 34 illegal attempts to cross the Belarusian-Latvian border were documented.

The Polish Border Guard said that 22 foreigners tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus, Yemenis, Egyptians and Afghans among them. A national of Kazakhstan was arrested for facilitating illegal migration.

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.