EU stops 123 illegal migrants at Belarus border

February 10, BPN. The EU has not allowed 123 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service has not reported any attempts by migrants to cross the Belarusian-Lithuanian border for two consecutive days, but their Latvian colleagues thwarted 10 attempts.

The Polish Border Guard said that 113 foreigners, including 38 Afghans, 37 Syrians, 17 Yemenis, 10 Iranians, nine Egyptians, and a Turkish and Iraqi national, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus. 

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded a total of 2,625 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 1,823 attempts via Poland, 513 via Latvia and 289 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.