EU stops 139 illegal migrants at Belarus border

October 22, Pozirk. The European Union (EU) has not allowed at least 139 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service did record illegal border crossings but said their Latvian colleagues thwarted 101 attempts.

The Polish Border Guard said that 38 foreigners, including nationals of Afghanistan, India, and Syria, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has record­ed at least 36,881 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory from Belarus, with 22,689 attempts via Poland, 12,115 via Latvia and 2,077 via Lithuania. Illegal migrants attempt­ed to cross the Belaru­sian-EU bor­der as many as 3,657 times in October.

Pozirk‘s analysis of daily stats indicated growing tension at the Belarusian-EU border, with Latvia turning into the prime target. Illegal border crossing attempts peaked at 5,054 in July.

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.

On August 28, interior ministers of Poland and the Baltic States agreed to close their borders with Belarus in case of a surge in illegal migration.