European fences at the border led to adaptation of migration route and increase in the number of smugglers

European border barriers did not stop the migratory route – as is evidenced by statistics from Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, the State Border Committee of Belarus reports in its Telegram channel

According to the State Border Committee of Belarus, the number of refugees detained at the Lithuanian border during 2022 has not changed, despite the barrier. Latvia informed about the increase in the facts of detention of refugees by 40 percent. On the Polish-Belarusian border, the number of identified refugees decreased by 60 percent. “At the same time, the number of detained foreigners on the Polish-Lithuanian border has doubled, and the number of so-called refugee carriers has also tripled,” the State Border Committee added.

“Thus, the fences contribute to the adaptation of migration routes, and the increase in the number of persons involved in people smuggling in transit states,” the Belarusian border department concluded.

The department also drew attention to the following fact, “Barriers have been installed in all directions, but for some unknown reason, the negative dynamics is only on the Polish border, which raises doubts about the veracity of the Polish data.”

Earlier, the State Border Committee reported that after the construction of the fences, the number of refugee carriers in Poland and Lithuania almost tripled.