EU stops 138 illegal migrants at Belarus border

March 31, BPN. The EU has not allowed 138 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reported that it thwarted five attempts in the Lithuanian-Belarusian border area on March 30, while their Latvian colleagues foiled 28 attempts.

The Polish Border Guard said that 105 foreigners, including nationals of Iraq and Syria, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded a total of 7,333 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 5,427 attempts via Poland, 1,294 via Latvia and 612 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.