EU stops 33 illegal migrants at Belarus border

February 18, BPN. The EU has not allowed 33 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reported that it turned away six migrants in the Lithuanian-Belarusian border area on February 17, while their Latvian colleagues thwarted nine attempts.

The Polish Border Guard said that 18 foreigners, including nationals of Afghanistan, Egypt and Syria, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded a total of 3,239 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 2,251 attempts via Poland, 631 via Latvia and 357 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.