EU stops 188 illegal migrants at Belarus border

May 15, BPN. The European Union has not allowed at least 188 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day following 121 illegal crossing attempts on May 13. 

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reported that it foiled 26 attempts in the Lithuanian-Belarusian border area on May 14, while their Latvian colleagues thwarted 74 attempts.

The Polish Border Guard said that 88 foreigners, including nationals of Afghanistan, Cuba, Pakistan and Ethiopia, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus. 

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded at least 13,025 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory from Belarus, with 9,100 attempts via Poland, 2,913 via Latvia and 1,012 via Lithuania. Illegal migrants attempted to cross the Belarus-EU border 2,225 times since the start of May.

Border crossing attempts rose from 1,989 and 2,034 in January and February to 3,401 and 3,440 in March and April, respectively.

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.