On Friday, January 14, officials of the State Border Guard prevented 50 people from crossing the Latvian-Belarusian border illegally. On Saturday, January 15, 33 more people tried to enter Latvia illegally and on Sunday, January 16, another 30 people tried to cross.
All but three were turned back.
Since the introduction of the state of emergency, 109 people have not been prevented from crossing the border on humanitarian grounds, and a total of 461 third-country nationals have been detained after illegally crossing in 2021 and 2022.
Since 10 August 2021, a total of 4,741 people have been deterred from crossing the border illegally.
In the summer of 2021, the number of migrants trying to enter the territory of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland illegally increased significantly as a result of the state-sponsored human trafficking operation being run by the Lukashenko regime in Belarus. Most migrants have come from Iraq.
