EU stops 122 illegal migrants at Belarus border

April 18, BPN. The EU has not allowed 122 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reported that it foiled 17 attempts in the Lithuanian-Belarusian border area on April 17, while their Latvian colleagues thwarted 18 attempts.

The Polish Border Guard said that 87 foreigners, including nationals of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Congo, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus. Border guards arrested a Ukrainian national for complicity in illegal migration.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded a total of 9,319 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 6,790 attempts via Poland, 1,696 via Latvia and 833 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.