Illegal Belarus-EU border crossings soar to 234 in 24 hours

October 27, Pozirk. The European Union (EU) has not allowed at least 234 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service recorded 18 illegal border crossings while their Latvian colleagues thwarted 144 attempts.

The Polish Border Guard said that 72 foreigners, including nationals of Bangladesh, Sudan and Ethiopia, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has record­ed at least 37,837 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory from Belarus, with 23,138 attempts via Poland, 12,514 via Latvia and 2,185 via Lithuania. Illegal migrants attempt­ed to cross the Belaru­sian-EU bor­der as many as 4,613 times in October.

Pozirk’s analysis of daily stats indicated growing tension at the Belarusian-EU border, with Latvia turning into the prime target. Illegal border crossing attempts peaked at 5,054 in July.

The migration crisis at the Belarusian-EU border dates back to the spring of 2021. It escalated in November 2021, with thousands of migrants setting 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.

On August 28, interior ministers of Poland and the Baltic States agreed to close their borders with Belarus in case of a surge in illegal migration.