EU stops 130 illegal migrants at Belarus border

April 17, BPN. The EU has not allowed 130 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reported that it foiled 16 attempts in the Lithuanian-Belarusian border area on April 16, while their Latvian colleagues thwarted 30 attempts.

The Polish Border Guard said that 84 foreigners, including nationals of Afghanistan, Yemen and Nigeria, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus. Border guards arrested three Ukrainians for complicity in illegal migration.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded a total of 9,197 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 6,703 attempts via Poland, 1,678 via Latvia and 816 via Lithuania.

Border crossing attempts rose from 1,989 in January to 2,034 in February and 3,401 in March.

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.