EU stops 97 illegal migrants at Belarus border

February 17, BPN. The EU has not allowed 97 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reported that it turned away 20 migrants in the Lithuanian-Belarusian border area on February 16, while their Latvian colleagues thwarted nine attempts.

The Polish Border Guard said that 68 foreigners, including nationals of Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded a total of 3,206 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 2,233 attempts via Poland, 622 via Latvia and 351 via Lithuania.

The Latvian legislature on February 16 extended the state of emergency at the border with Belarus until May 10, citing attempts by illegal migrants to enter the European Union via the Baltic states and Poland.

The state of emergency covers the municipalities of Ludza, Krāslava, Augšdaugava, and Daugavpils. Latvia declared it on August 10, 2021 over an influx of illegal migrants from Belarus and has extended it several times since then.

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.