EU stops 38 illegal migrants at Belarus border

January 20, BPN. The EU has not allowed 38 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reported that it turned away six migrants in the Lithuanian-Belarusian border area on January 19, while their Latvian counterparts thwarted three attempts.

The Polish Border Guard said that 29 foreigners tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus. Border guards arrested two Ukrainians for complicity in illegal migration.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded a total of 1,304 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 888 attempts via Poland, 276 via Latvia and 140 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 in February 2022, but have risen more recently.