Lithuanian border guards detain 47 more people on border with Belarus


The Ramanava village. Border with Lithuania, April 17, 2017. Vasily Malchanau / Belsat

Those detained over the past two days identified themselves as citizens of Iraq, India, Gambia, Guinea, and Morocco. They had no documents. Their identities have not yet been established, according to the Lithuanian State Security Bureau.

A total of 555 illegal migrants from Belarus have tried to enter Lithuania this year. This is almost seven times more than in 2020. Last year, 81 such foreigners were detained.

The largest number of Iraqi citizens or foreigners, 361, were detained on the border with Belarus this year. Among them 46 people from Iran, 45 from Syria, 39 from Belarus, 17 from Russia, 11 from Turkey, 10 from Sri Lanka, 6 from Tajikistan, 4 each from Guinea and India, 3 from Afghanistan, 2 each from Yemen, Egypt, Morocco and the Gambia and 1 citizen of Somalia or self-proclaimed.

Because of the recent increase in illegal border crossings, Lithuania has strengthened border security with Belarus. “In addition to various organizational measures, border guards from other units were deployed to this section, and additional technical resources were allocated. In addition, the forces of the Public Security Service, the Union of Riflemen, and other institutions came to the aid of the border guards,” the Bureau reported.

At the same time, the official Vilnius says that the Belarusian side is reluctant to communicate with the Lithuanian border guards, who seek help in investigating the cases of infiltration of illegal migrants into the territory of Lithuania through the border with Belarus. Giedrius Mišutis, a representative of the State Border Guard Service at the Interior Ministry of the Baltic Republic, said this on the air of the national radio LRT on Sunday.

“After each detention, which usually happens every day, we inform our Belarusian colleagues and offer a joint investigation, but the response can be described as sluggish,” he said.

Migrants say they have paid $2,000 to $4,000 to unnamed people in their countries for a “trip” from Baghdad to the EU border, reports The Telegraph.

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