EU stops 48 illegal migrants at Belarus border

April 7, BPN. The EU has not allowed 48 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service spotted 10 trespassers in the Lithuanian-Belarusian border area.

Citing Latvia’s State Border Guard, it said seven illegal attempts to cross the Belarusian-Latvian border were documented.

The Polish Border Guard said that 31 foreigners tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus, Sudanese and Moroccans among them. Two Belarusians and one Tajik were arrested for facilitating undocumented migration.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded a total of 8,049 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 5,951 attempts via Poland, 1,394 via Latvia and 704 via Lithuania.

BPN‘s analysis of daily stats indicates growing tension on the Belarusian-EU border. There were 1,989 illegal attempts in January, 2,034 in February and 3,401 in March, with Poland being the prime target.

The migration crisis at the Belarusian-EU border dates back to the spring of 2021. It escalated on November 8, 2021 when thousands of migrants set 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 on February 24, but have risen more recently.