EU stops 128 illegal migrants at Belarus border

April 11, BPN. The EU has not allowed 128 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reported that it turned away 21 migrants in the Lithuanian-Belarusian border area on April 10, while their Latvian colleagues thwarted 36 attempts.

The Polish Border Guard said that 71 foreigners, including nationals of Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded a total of 8,409 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 6,140 attempts via Poland, 1,509 via Latvia and 760 via Lithuania.

The migration crisis at the Belarusian-EU border dates back to the spring of 2021. It escalated in November 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 in February 2022, but have risen more recently. Poland has been leading as the main destination for illegal migrants in 2023.