EU stops 117 illegal migrants at Belarus border

April 28, BPN. The European Union (EU) has not allowed 117 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day with most attempts reported at the Belarusian-Polish and Belarusian-Latvian sections of the border.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service did not record illegal border crossings on April 27 but said their Latvian colleagues thwarted 19 attempts. 

The Polish Border Guard said that 98 foreigners, including nationals of India, Syria and Somalia, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus. Border guards arrested a Ukrainian and a Pole for complicity in illegal migration. 

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded a total of 10,572 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 7,701 attempts via Poland, 1,937 via Latvia and 898 via Lithuania.

Border crossing attempts rose from 1,989 in January to 2,034 in February and 3,401 in March.

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.