Border guards detain four Moroccans heading for Western Europe

Four Moroccan nationals trying to travel through Lithuania to Western Europe were detained in the town of Mažeikiai, the State Border Guard Service said, LRT reported.

The four men, aged 20, 20, 23 and 24, had left a foreigners’ registration centre in Latvia and were travelling through Lithuania. They entered Latvia from Belarus after illegally crossing the border, then came to Lithuania. They travelled by bus to the Latvian border and walked more than 10 kilometres to Mažeikiai. From there, they planned to take a bus to Vilnius.

Border guards said the men had been detained in Lithuania before. For two of them, this was the third detention; for another, the fourth; and for the fourth man, the fifth. Two had been returned to Latvia less than two weeks earlier.

According to the service, the men had tried various ways to reach Western Europe, travelling by train, bus and car. They had also tried to leave Lithuania by plane, but did not reach their destination. The four were transferred the same day to officials at the Foreigners’ Registration Centre in Pabradė. Under a readmission agreement, they will be returned to Latvia.