„It is a record number of illegal migrants this year,“ VSAT spokesman Giedrius Mišutis told ELTA.
He said some of the foreign nationals previously tried to cross into Poland. They had lived in Russia and Belarus for some time, according to Mišutis.
„There are two groups of 29 and 11 people claiming to be Iranian and Somali nationals. They were trying to enter Lithuania from Belarus, through a marshy area in the Ignalina district which has no physical barrier, only border surveillance systems. They attempted to cross into Lithuania by following a stream along its banks (&). Following formal procedures, all 40 were turned back. Ten of them received humanitarian aid packages,“ the VSAT spokesman said.
Latvia’s border service recorded 103 attempts to enter the country from Belarus unlawfully over the three-day period. Polish border guards turned away 101 migrants on its Belarusian border from 18 to 20 July.
So far this year, Lithuania has prevented 333 illegal crossing attempts by foreign nationals at unauthorised locations bordering Belarus. The figure stood at 2,643 last year.
Since the start of the migrant crisis orchestrated by the Minsk regime in 2021, Lithuania has thwarted more than 22,200 illegal border crossing attempts.