EU stops 161 illegal migrants at Belarus border

May 19, BPN. The European Union has not allowed at least 161 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day. 

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reported that it foiled 18 attempts in the Lithuanian-Belarusian border area on May 18, while their Latvian colleagues thwarted 68 attempts.

The Polish Border Guard said that 75 foreigners, including nationals of Bangladesh, Nigeria and Togo, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus. 

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded at least 13,612 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory from Belarus, with 9,417 attempts via Poland, 3,153 via Latvia and 1,042 via Lithuania. Illegal migrants attempted to cross the Belarus-EU border 2,812 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.