In January, for example, only five people tried to cross the border illegally, in February - 75, and in March - almost 700.
Although April has just started, 106 attempts to cross the Latvian-Belarusian border illegally have been prevented in the last few days.
Deputy Head of the Daugavpils administration of the State Border Guard Tomass Skrimblis said: "These are people from Asia, from Africa, from countries such as India, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan. If we talk about African countries, it's Congo, Cameroon, Mali. They leave their home countries and go to Moscow or Minsk, they are taken to the Belarusian-Latvian border, and here they try to enter the country illegally."
The migrants have said to the border guards that most of them dream of getting to Germany. Although the border fence is not finished, it stops the violators and gives border guards more time to react.
Skrimblis pointed out: "They are damaging both the fence and our infrastructure. They are cutting the fence and making holes. That fence gives us extra time to react." The fence is most likely being damaged by the Belarusian services, the border guard said.
In three cases this year, border crossers were intercepted in a car when they had already been picked up by pre-arranged carriers. The penalty for such behavior can be up to ten years in prison.
