Polish border guards prevent group of more than 200 migrants from crossing from Belarus

April 10, Pozirk. Border guards and soldiers in Poland’s Podlaskie region stopped a group of more than 220 people coming from Belarus this morning, amid a spike in illegal migration, according to the Polish Border Guard.

The group tried to enter near the Białowieża checkpoint. They were aggressive and threw sticks and stones at patrols and later retreated to Belarus.

The Poles released a video showing people carrying several ladders to climb over a barrier.

Migrants from Asia and Africa have used the Belarus route since the spring of 2021.

Alaksandar Łukašenka, angered by EU sanctions, had indicated that Minsk would not prevent migrants from Africa and Asia from using Belarus as a route to the EU. The crisis escalated in November 2021, with hundreds of migrants storming the Polish border.

In June 2021, the Belarusian government announced the suspension of a readmission agreement with the EU in response to sanctions that followed the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk.

The Baltic States and Poland accused Belarusian authorities of creating the trouble, while the latter blamed it on the West.

European authorities foiled 31,892 illegal crossing attempts in 2022 and 42,078 in 2023.

More than 7,000 attempts have been reported since the beginning of the year: 5,941 in Poland, 994 in Latvia and 153 in Lithuania. April alone saw 2,307 incidents.