Probably Belarusian There are about 1,500 migrants in the capital who want to enter illegally European Union (EU), said on Tuesday Lithuania State Border Guard head of the service Rustam Lubayev.
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“Recently, such groups of illegal migrants have been crossing the border almost every night. According to our information, a rather large group of illegal migrants has gathered in Minsk, which is constantly growing with the arrival of new migrants from Baghdad or Istanbul,” he told reporters at one of Varena’s border checkpoints. district.
According to Lubayev, these people can start moving towards the border at any time.
According to Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite, illegal immigrants arrive in Belarus by plane from Istanbul and Baghdad, and there are a total of four such flights a week.
Asked if there was a link between flight schedules and flows of illegal immigrants, the head of the State Border Guard Service replied that “such a conclusion could be reached by assessing the size of migrant groups”.
According to the information provided by the border guards, 387 illegal immigrants have already tried to enter Lithuania across the Belarusian border this year, mostly Iraqi citizens – almost five times more than last year throughout the year. In 2020, 81 foreigners were detained illegally crossing the border, in 2019 – 46, in 2018 – 104.
Last weekend, Lithuanian border guards detained 58 illegal immigrants from Belarus in the Švenčionys and Ignalina districts. Attempts to cross the border have not been detected on Monday and Tuesday.
As Lubayev has admitted, it is now increasingly difficult to predict where specific groups of illegal immigrants will try to cross the border – this happens almost throughout the protected section of the state border.
The total length of the Lithuanian-Belarusian border is 680 kilometers, 38 per cent have surveillance systems installed and a fence has been erected along 11.5 per cent of the border.
Reinforced forces are currently working at the border, border guards are assisted by employees of the Public Security Service and members of the Riflemen’s Union, and Lithuanian border guards are cooperating with colleagues in Latvia and Poland.
“With Polish we have agreed action plans for colleagues and organized joint events. It is very important to exchange information, and the results are already there – according to our information, those illegal migrants who leave the Aliens Registration Center are detained in Poland and sent back to us, “said the head of the border guard service.” to cross the territory of Lithuania. “
Lubayev also pointed out that EU border guard agencies could come to Lithuania this week “Frontex“an expert group to assess the technical and operational aspects so that European border guards can start border surveillance from mid – July.
According to the Border Guard, about 30 EU border guards could come to Lithuania.
At the end of May, the authoritarian leader of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko Belarus has so far slowed down the flow of drugs and migrants across the border, but in the future Lithuanians will have to “catch migrants themselves”.
The Prime Minister stated on Tuesday that the flows of illegal immigrants are related to the activities of certain Belarusian institutions.
“We have reason to believe that some Belarusian institutions, such as travel agencies, are involved,” she said. Asked if Minsk The regime makes it easier for these foreigners to cross the border, Šimonīte replied that “it would not be wrong to say so”.
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