EU stops 112 illegal migrants at Belarus border

April 5, BPN. The EU has not allowed 112 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reported that it turned away five migrants in the Lithuanian-Belarusian border area on April 4, while their Latvian colleagues thwarted nine attempts.

The Polish Border Guard said that 98 foreigners, including nationals of India, Pakistan and Syria, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus. Border guards arrested four Ukrainians and one Pole for complicity in illegal migration.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded a total of 7,851 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 5,807 attempts via Poland, 1,354 via Latvia and 690 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. Poland has been leading as the main destination for illegal migrants in 2023.