{"id":180845,"date":"2026-03-25T12:56:59","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T09:56:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/180845\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T12:57:01","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T09:57:01","slug":"poland-arrests-belarusian-suspected-of-facilitating-irregular-migration","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/180845\/","title":{"rendered":"Poland arrests Belarusian suspected of facilitating irregular migration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (strazgraniczna.pl)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

March 25, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> A 29-year-old Belarusian and a 55-year-old Bulgarian have been placed under arrest for three months in Sejny, Podlaskie voivodeship of Poland, for facilitating irregular crossings of the Polish-Lithuanian border, the Polish Border Guard reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both men were arrested on March 23 and must leave Poland after their detention period ends, it noted. The Belarusian has been banned from entering the Schengen area for 10 years and may face up to eight years in prison if he violates the ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the start of 2026, the Podlasie border guards have arrested 18 persons suspected of organizing or facilitating irregular migration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this period, Lithuania thwarted at least 85 irregular crossings by undocumented third-country foreigners via Belarus and Poland, more than 150 attempts, according to Pozirk<\/em>\u2019s analysis of border guards\u2019 data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flow of people desperate to cross into the EU surged in spring 2021 after Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka, angered by EU sanctions, had indicated that Minsk would not prevent asylum seekers from Africa and Asia from using Belarus as a route to the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 2021, the Belarusian government suspended a readmission agreement with the EU in response to sanctions that followed the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latvia, Lithuania and Poland call the migration crisis a \u201chybrid attack\u201d orchestrated by Minsk and Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prime ministers of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland signed a joint declaration on February 26 on strengthening cooperation to beef up border security and respond to hybrid threats. The governments committed \u201cto resist the instrumentalization of migration and other hybrid threats at the external borders of the European Union, including land, sea, and airspace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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