EU stops 88 illegal migrants at Belarus border

May 18, BPN. The European Union has not allowed at least 88 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day following 185 illegal crossing attempts on May 16. 

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service has not recorded any illegal border crossings for two consecutive days but said their Latvian colleagues thwarted 29 attempts on May 17. 

The Polish Border Guard said that 59 foreigners, including nationals of Afghanistan, Mauritania, Nepal, Sudan, Chad and Eritrea, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus. 

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded at least 13,451 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory from Belarus, with 9,342 attempts via Poland, 2,085 via Latvia and 1,024 via Lithuania. Illegal migrants attempted to cross the Belarus-EU border 2,651 times since the start of May.

Border crossing attempts rose from 1,989 and 2,034 in January and February to 3,401 and 3,440 in March and April, respectively.

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.