EU stops 176 illegal migrants at Belarus border

June 29, BPN. The EU has not allowed 176 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

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

Citing Latvia’s State Border Guard, it said 22 illegal attempts to cross the Belarusian-Latvian border were documented.

The Polish Border Guard said that 151 foreigners tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus, including nationals of Syria, Sudan, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded at least 19,046 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory from Belarus, with 13,519 attempts via Poland, 4,273 via Latvia and 1,254 via Lithuania. Illegal migrants attempted to cross the Belarus-EU border 3,527 times since the start of June.

BPN‘s analysis of daily stats indicates growing tension at the Belarusian-EU border, with Poland being the prime target. Illegal border crossing attempts rose from 1,989 in January and 1,970 in February to 3,401 in March, 3,440 in April, and 4,719 in May.

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 in February 2022, but have risen more recently.