Illegal Belarus-EU border crossings soar to 150

April 6, BPN. The EU has not allowed 150 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reported that it turned away four migrants in the Lithuanian-Belarusian border area on April 5, while their Latvian colleagues thwarted 33 attempts.

The Polish Border Guard said that 113 foreigners, including nationals of Egypt, Syria and Somalia, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus. Border guards arrested a Belarusian national for complicity in illegal migration.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded a total of 8,001 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 5,920 attempts via Poland, 1,387 via Latvia and 694 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.