EU stops 110 illegal migrants at Belarus border

April 12, BPN. The EU has not allowed 110 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reported that it turned away 10 migrants in the Lithuanian-Belarusian border area on April 11, while their Latvian colleagues thwarted 29 attempts.

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

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded a total of 8,519 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 6,211 attempts via Poland, 1,538 via Latvia and 770 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.