{"id":168413,"date":"2025-12-16T14:05:38","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T11:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/168413\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"poland-sees-drop-in-irregular-border-crossings-as-undocumented-migrants-adapt-tactics","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/168413\/","title":{"rendered":"Poland sees drop in irregular crossings as undocumented migrants adapt tactics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (Polish Border Guard)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

December 16, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Poland has not allowed at least 190 third-country foreigners to cross irregularly via Belarus since the start of December, with attempts reported on December 1, 10 and 11, according to Pozirk<\/em>‘s analysis of border guards’ data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Irregular crossings fell by more than half compared with December 2024, though the trend may reflect a shift in tactics by undocumented migrants rather than a true reduction in migration pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The highest number of daily irregular border crossing attempts this month \u2013 186 \u2013 was reported on December 11, the day a tunnel under the border was discovered. It is possible that additional underground passages exist, allowing migrants to cross quietly rather than attempting to storm the Polish fence along the Belarusian border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the first half of December, Lithuania thwarted five irregular crossings via Belarus and Latvia, 61.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarus\u2019 western neighbors have reported 42,539 irregular entries since the start of 2025, 17.2 percent more than in the same period in 2024. Poland remained the primary target of irregular migration with 29,025 attempts this year, followed by Latvia with 11,902 attempts and Lithuania with 1,612attempts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flow of people desperate to cross into the EU surged in spring 2021 after Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka, angered by EU sanctions, had indicated that Minsk would not prevent asylum seekers from Africa and Asia from using Belarus as a route to the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 2021, the Belarusian government suspended a readmission agreement with the EU in response to sanctions that followed the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latvia, Lithuania and Poland call the migration crisis a \u201chybrid attack\u201d orchestrated by Minsk and Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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