EU stops 63 illegal migrants at Belarus border

January 26, BPN. The EU has not allowed 63 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service did not record illegal border crossings on January 25, but their Latvian colleagues thwarted seven attempts.

The Polish Border Guard said that 56 foreigners tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus, including nationals of Egypt, Iran and Sudan. Border guards arrested one Ukrainian for complicity in illegal migration. 

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded a total of 1,655 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 1,162 attempts via Poland, 309 via Latvia and 184 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.