All news

Lithuania says 29 migrants sought to illegally cross border on Christmas weekend

They have been turned back to Belarusian territory, the border service reported

VILNIUS, December 27. /TASS/. About 30 illegal migrants sought to cross the Lithuanian-Belarusian border over the weekend, which began on the holiday of Christmas in the Baltic Republic on Friday, Commander of the State Border Guard Service, General Rustamas Liubajevas told the LRT national radio station on Monday.

"During the holiday, 29 illegal migrants attempted to get into Lithuania and have been turned back to Belarusian territory," he noted.

According to the border service, at present, the migrants try to cross the border in small groups. "The most numerous one was nine people," the general revealed.

During December, there were six days when Lithuanian border guards did not register a single case of an illegal border crossing. This occurred on December 7, and three days later on December 10, and from December 14 to December 16, as well as on December 22.

According to the commander of the state border guard service, a more difficult situation remains on the Belarusian border in Poland and Latvia. Based on current information, 116 illegal immigrants tried to enter Poland during the holiday period, while 179 refugees attempted to enter Latvia.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 4,000 illegal migrants from Asia and Africa have been detained at the Lithuanian-Belarusian border, which is 50 times more than in 2020.