Illegal Belarus-EU border crossings hit daily record high for 2023

July 28, BPN. The European Union (EU) has not allowed at least 354 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service recorded 18 illegal attempts to cross the border on July 27 while their Latvian colleagues thwarted 44 attempts.

The Polish Border Guard said that 292 foreigners, including nationals of Algeria, Sudan and Sri Lanka, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded at least 23,399 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory from Belarus, with 16,867 attempts via Poland, 5,104 via Latvia and 1,428 via Lithuania. Illegal migrants attempted to cross the Belarusian-EU border 4,179 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 in November 2021, with thousands of migrants setting 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.