After construction of fences, the number of refugee carriers in Poland and Lithuania almost tripled
The Western Balkan route is the most intensive in terms of the number of incoming refugees, with almost 140,000 cases of illegal entry into the EU being registered here since the beginning of the year – as reported by the State Border Committee of Belarus in its Telegram channel
According to the information of the border department, the second most active migration route in the EU is the Central Mediterranean, which recorded almost 94,000 cases of illegal entry in 2022.
“Despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of refugees arrive in the EU through these routes, a fence and barbed wire have been installed on the border with Belarus,” the State Border Committee noted.
According to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), the transit route to the EU through Belarus is the smallest. In November, the number of identified cases was only 334.
“At the same time, experts in the field of migration have repeatedly stated that the construction of the wall causes a slight change in the scale and direction of migration, but at the same time increases the cost of crossing it, and hence the income of smugglers,” the State Border Committee said.
Thus, according to the State Border Committee of Belarus, last year, according to official information, 70 cases of transportation of refugees were detected on the Lithuanian side, in ten months of this year – about 160. Since the beginning of the year, the Polish border guards have detained almost 400 migrant carriers near the Polish-Belarusian border, almost 140 – on the Polish-Lithuanian border (in 2021 – 52 people).
