EU stops 161 illegal migrants at Belarus border

May 31, 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 seven attempts in the Lithuanian-Belarusian border area on May 30, while their Latvian colleagues thwarted 16 attempts.

The Polish Border Guard said that 138 foreigners, including nationals of Congo, Mali and Somalia, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus.  

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded at least 15,421 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory from Belarus, with 10,678 attempts via Poland, 3,620 via Latvia and 1,123 via Lithuania. Illegal migrants attempted to cross the Belarusian-EU border 4,621 times since the start of May.

BPN’s analysis of daily stats indicates growing tension on the Belarusian-EU border. There were 1,989 illegal attempts in January, 1,970 in February, 3,401 in March and 3,440 in April, with Poland being the prime target.

The migration crisis at the Belarusian-EU border dates back to the spring of 2021. It escalated on November 8, 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.