Lithuania turns back 21 migrants at Belarus border

Lithuanian border guards turned back 21 irregular migrants at the border with Belarus over the past 24 hours, the State Border Guard Service said, LRT reported.

Latvia’s border service, which is facing a large influx of irregular migrants, barred 32 people from entering the country on Saturday. Polish officials reported no such cases that day.

Authorities prevented more than 1,600 people from entering Lithuania from Belarus at unauthorised crossing points last year and 1,749 so far this year. Since the start of the migration crisis involving Belarus, about 26,300 irregular migrants have been prevented from entering the country.

Migrants began arriving in eastern European Union countries in large numbers in 2021. Western countries blamed Minsk’s regime for the situation.