EU stops 42 illegal migrants at Belarus border

February 13, BPN. The EU has not allowed 42 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 on February 12, but their Latvian colleagues thwarted nine attempts.

The Polish Border Guard said that 33 foreigners, including nationals of Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Iran, Yemen, Morocco and Syria tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus. 

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded a total of 2,803 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 1,933 attempts via Poland, 548 via Latvia and 322 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.