EU stops 144 illegal migrants at Belarus border

July 7, BPN. The European Union (EU) has not allowed at least 144 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service did not record any illegal border crossings for three consecutive days but said that their Latvian colleagues thwarted 29 attempts on July 6.

The Polish Border Guard said that 115 foreigners, including nationals of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Gambia, Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded at least 20,234 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory from Belarus, with 14,401 attempts via Poland, 4,568 via Latvia and 1,265 via Lithuania. Illegal migrants attempted to cross the Belarus-EU border 1,014 times since the start of July.

BPN’s analysis of daily stats indicates growing tension at 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 4,719 in May and 3,701 in June. 

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.