Lithuania turns back 16 migrants at Belarus border

Lithuanian border guards turned back 16 irregular migrants at the border with Belarus over the past 24 hours, LRT reported on Wednesday, citing the State Border Guard Service.

Latvian border guards turned back seven migrants on Tuesday, while Polish guards reported no such cases at the border on Monday.

More than 1,000 irregular migrants have been denied entry to Lithuania so far this year. Last year, there were more than 1,600 attempts to enter the country from Belarus at unauthorised locations, compared with 1,002 the year before.

Since the start of the migration crisis attributed to Belarus, Lithuanian border guards have prevented more than 25,600 foreigners from entering the country illegally.

The influx of migrants from Belarus to the eastern EU member states began in 2021. Western countries accuse the Minsk regime of organising it.