Illegal Belarus-EU border crossings soar to 144

March 30, BPN. The EU has not allowed 144 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service did not record illegal border crossings but said their Latvian colleagues thwarted 28 attempts.

The Polish Border Guard said that 116 foreigners, including nationals of Yemen, Syria, Somalia and Nigeria, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded a total of 7,195 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 5,322 attempts via Poland, 1,266 via Latvia and 607 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.