June 6, Pozirk. The European Union (EU) did not allow at least 930 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus in the first four days of June, 12.7 percent more than in the same period last month, Pozirk‘s analysis of border guards’ data showed.
Illegal border crossings soared 78.5 percent year on year.
Poland remained the primary target for third-country migrants, who attempted 862 illegal border crossings. Latvia and Lithuania thwarted 59 and nine attempts, respectively.
Three days ago, migrants reportedly threw branches and stones at Polish border guards and sprayed gas, injuring two officers. Two foreigners also needed medical assistance. Seven persons were arrested on suspicion of complicity in illegal migration.
Since the start of 2024, the EU thwarted at least 19,743 illegal border crossings on its shared border with Belarus, with 17,320 attempts via Poland alone, 2,197 via Latvia and 226 via Lithuania. Illegal border crossings picked up pace in February and kept reaching record highs in May, Pozirk’s analysis of daily stats showed.
The migration crisis at the Belarusian-EU border started in spring 2021 after 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. It 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.
In August 2023, the interior ministers of Poland and the Baltic States warned that they would close the border with Belarus in response to a surge in illegal migration.
