EU stops 173 illegal migrants at Belarus border

June 18, BPN. The EU has not allowed 173 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service spotted 17 trespassers in the Lithuanian-Belarusian border area.

Citing Latvia’s State Border Guard, it said 10 illegal attempts to cross the Belarusian-Latvian border were documented.

The Polish Border Guard said that 146 foreigners tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus, Indians, Tajik and Eritreans among them.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded at least 17,423 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 12,206 attempts via Poland, 3,993 via Latvia and 1,224 via Lithuania.

BPN‘s analysis of daily stats indicates growing tension on the Belarusian-EU border, with Poland being the prime target. Illegal border crossing attempts rose from 1,989 in January and 1,970 in February to 3,401 in March, 3,440 in April, and 4,719 in May.

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.