Last year 13,863 people were prevented from crossing the state border illegally, while 428 were admitted for humanitarian reasons. Attempts by 5,286 people to cross the Latvian-Belarusian border illegally were prevented in 2022, while 217 people were allowed to cross the border on humanitarian grounds.
If last autumn, about 100 attempts to enter Latvia were prevented on average per day, this number has decreased in the last two months; moreover, there are relatively regular days in a row when no attempts are detected.
The Minister of Interior, Rihards Kozlovskis (New Unity), said late last year that there may have been a pause in the pressure of illegal migration, but there is currently no reason to lift the reinforced work mode of the border security system.
In the context of the pressure on illegal immigration, an enhanced mode of operation of the border security system is in place in several administrative areas in the border area of Belarus until February 10, 2024, which replaced the state of emergency introduced by the government in August 2021 and extended several times.
Taking into account the rapidly growing hybrid threat on the Latvian-Belarusian border, last summer the State Border Guard mobilized border guards to strengthen external border guarding. The Border Guard has also requested additional support from the National Armed Forces and the State Police.
Given the pressure exerted by Belarus on illegal immigration, the government decided in mid-September 2023 to suspend the operation of the Silene border crossing point.
