Belarus-side migrants ordered to damage Latvia’s border infrastructure

Migrants on the Belarusian side are being ordered to damage Latvian border infrastructure if they have not paid for an attempted crossing, LSM reported, citing LTV investigative programme De facto and prosecutor Andris Aleksejevs.

Aleksejevs, who works in the General Prosecutor’s Office Department for the Protection of State Security, said people in uniform visit migrants and check whether they have paid. Those who have not are sent to damage the border infrastructure. Migrants who refuse risk physical injuries or other forms of torture.

More than 12,000 attempts to cross illegally from Belarus into Latvia have been prevented this year, according to the report. Latvian officials describe migrants as part of a hybrid war conducted by the neighbouring country and as tools of its security services. As aggression at the border increases, politicians are considering how to expand border guards’ rights to use weapons.

Latvia’s Border Guard says a joint army and border guard operation, Vilkatis, has helped close off routes into Latvia from Belarus. Before the operation began this summer, Latvia had to take back more than 800 migrants from neighbouring countries; since then, the number has been about 70. The service says the tighter border controls have also brought increased aggression and threats of sabotage.

Border Guard deputy chief Ivars Ruskulis said the restrictions had disrupted the flow of irregular migrants into the European Union and the business of the criminal groups behind it. He said the groups were now trying to find ways to get people across the border.

Lithuanian media reported several times this summer that groups of migrants had entered Lithuania via Latvia rather than directly from Belarus. People caught in this way are returned to the country whose border they crossed first.