EU stops 77 illegal migrants at Belarus border

January 11, BPN. The European Union (EU) has not allowed 77 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day. 

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reported that it turned away 10 migrants in the Lithuanian-Belarusian border area on January 10, while their Latvian colleagues thwarted 18 attempts. 

The Polish Border Guard said that 49 foreigners tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus, including nationals of Yemen, Congo and Senegal.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded a total of 803 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 462 attempts via Poland, 230 via Latvia and 111 via Lithuania.

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, 2022 but have risen more recently.