EU stops 167 illegal migrants at Belarus border

July 16, BPN. The European Union (EU) has not allowed at least 167 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day, up 193 percent from one week ago.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service registered 15 illegal attempts to cross the border and said that their Latvian colleagues thwarted 51 attempts yesterday.

The Polish Border Guard said that 101 foreigners, including Angolans and Comorians, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded at least 21,295 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory from Belarus, with 15,299 attempts via Poland, 4,784 via Latvia and 1,282 via Lithuania. Illegal migrants attempted to cross the Belarus-EU border 2,075 times since the start of July.

BPN’s analysis of daily stats indicated 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.