EU stops 70 illegal migrants at Belarus border

February 3, BPN. The EU has not allowed 70 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reported that it had foiled 18 attempts by migrants in the Lithuanian-Belarusian border area on February 2, while their Latvian colleagues thwarted six attempts. 

The Polish Border Guard said that 46 foreigners, including nationals of Somalia and Iraq, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus. 

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded a total of 2,102 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 1,468 attempts via Poland, 384 via Latvia and 250 via Lithuania.

The migration crisis at the Belarusian-EU border dates back to the spring of 2021. It escalated in November 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.