EU stops 210 illegal migrants at Belarus border

July 19, BPN. The European Union (EU) has not allowed at least 210 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day, up 128 from the previous day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service registered four illegal attempts to cross the border and said that their Latvian colleagues thwarted 19 attempts yesterday.

The Polish Border Guard said that 187 foreigners, including Afghans, Gambians and Senegalese, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded at least 21,780 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory from Belarus, with 15,647 attempts via Poland, 4,821 via Latvia and 1,312 via Lithuania. Illegal migrants attempted to cross the Belarus-EU border 2,560 times since the start of July.

BPN‘s analysis of daily stats indicated 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 4,719 in May and 3,701 in June.

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.