Rising migrant crisis at Latvia-Belarus border triggers alarms

The number of migrants trying to cross from Belarus into Latvia is increasing. In July alone, there were around a thousand illegal migrants. Over 3,700 people have been detained this year at the border with Belarus.

Local authorities in the border municipality of Kraslava in the southeastern part of the country expect that the influx of migrants in August will be even greater and may resemble the border crisis that occurred at the end of summer 2023, regional Latgale Television reported.

Authorities in Riga have asked for support from services in Estonia and Lithuania to help monitor and protect the border with Belarus.

According to the Latvian border guard, in the last days of July alone, several large groups of migrants, totaling over 80 people, were prevented from crossing the border. This was the largest such action at the Belarus border in recent times. In the fall of last year, an average of about 100 migrants tried to cross the border daily.

According to Vadims Grickovs, head of the border control and immigration department at the border guard unit in Daugavpils, "migrant movements in the east also depend on the actions of neighboring countries, especially Poland, that is, on how (these countries) engage the military in border control."

In the assessment of Latvian services, migrants trying to enter the country mainly use unsecured parts of the border, such as technical gates and places where construction is ongoing.

In total, over 3,700 illegal immigrants have been detained at Latvia's eastern border this year, with over 450 in June, nearly 1,050 in July, and over 80 at the beginning of August. Criminal proceedings have been initiated against dozens of human traffickers from Latvia, Ukraine, and Romania.