Lithuania detects migrant tunnels under Belarus border, border chief says

Lithuania has recorded about 10 tunnels dug under the border this year as migrants try to enter the country, State Border Guard Service chief Rustamas Liubajevas told LRT.

Liubajevas said the longest tunnel detected on the Lithuanian side was about 25 metres long. Including the section on the Belarusian side, its total length may have been 30 to 40 metres.

“This year, a new trend has been observed, with migrants using tunnels more often to enter the territory of the Republic of Lithuania,” Liubajevas said.

When such tunnels are found, migrants who have entered Lithuania through them are usually deterred or detained, while the tunnels are filled with soil, he said.

According to Liubajevas, Polish border guards encountered similar activity several years ago and shared their experience of preventing it with Lithuanian officials.

Lithuania’s border monitoring systems can detect tunnelling while the work is still under way, he said. Guards generally wait for migrants to emerge on the Lithuanian side before deploying patrols to detain or deter them.

The State Border Guard Service also has equipment for detecting tunnels and is testing new technologies. Last week, officials tested scanning equipment capable of detecting cavities underground. The equipment was temporarily lent by Polish border guards, and Lithuania plans to purchase similar technology.

Liubajevas said the tunnels are usually started in Belarus, dug beneath the Belarusian-Lithuanian border and completed as far from the border line as possible to make the moment of entry harder to detect.

Some tunnels are dug as deep as eight metres and reinforced with timber, he said. Liubajevas argued that the complexity of the work and the logistics required to supply construction materials indicate that officials from the regime of Belarusian leader Aliaksandr Lukashenko are helping migrants or allowing them to operate in the border zone.

“This is complicated work that requires certain skills and logistics. Timber must be supplied to reinforce the tunnel,” Liubajevas said, adding that the activity suggested the neighbouring regime was continuing efforts to maintain tension on Lithuania’s border.