EU stops 69 illegal migrants at Belarus border

April 10, BPN. The EU has not allowed 69 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reported that it turned away two migrants in the Lithuanian-Belarusian border area on April 9, while their Latvian colleagues thwarted 36 attempts.

The Polish Border Guard said that 31 foreigners, including nationals of Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria and Eritrea, 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 8,281 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 6,069 attempts via Poland, 1,473 via Latvia and 739 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.