In an interview on TV3's "900 Seconds" program, Pujāts said that the last weeks of July showed a similar scenario as last year - a significant decrease in the number of offenders at the Polish border with Belarus, but an increase at the Latvian border.
A total of 3,301 people have been stopped from crossing the border illegally this year, while 12 people have been admitted to Latvia on humanitarian grounds.
Over the last three days, the State Border Guard has prevented 103 attempts by migrants to illegally cross the Latvian-Belarusian border - 47 on Friday, 30 on Saturday and 26 on Sunday. Pujāts said that this was the highest number of migrants detected over one weekend this year.
The situation is similar to last year, when the number of offenders at the Polish border dropped significantly, but increased at the border with Latvia. The Border Guard Chief said that this could be explained by the reaction to certain geopolitical events:
"September 1 last year was marked by the entry into force of the requirement for Russian citizens to pass the Latvian language requirements. A restriction on entry to Latvia for vehicles registered in Belarus has just been adopted. This is a reaction to certain political events, in order to take revenge on Latvia for the decisions it has taken."
Pujāts also said that in recent months, persons have been detected in the immediate vicinity of the Latvian border who do not look like migrants but military personnel, as evidenced by their clothing and behavior. There has been a case where border guards responded to one such person, but he turned back to Belarus.
The number of migrants admitted on humanitarian grounds has also decreased this year. This is partly due to a change in the profile of offenders, who are mostly young men aged between 30 and 35.
He said that often people start by saying that they want help from Latvia, but do not want to be registered here. They want to get unnoticed to Germany, for example, where they can apply for the "very generous benefit". Migrants from Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, India, and Bangladesh dominate.
At the Latvian-Russian border, however, the situation is calm and the State Border Guard does not see any migrant flows at the moment. The situation is more difficult at the checkpoints, where there are a large number of vehicles travelling in both directions on both sides of the border.
Anna Griķe, border monitoring expert of the association "I want to help refugees", also agreed with the description of the situation at the Latvian-Belarusian border:
"[Illegal migration] pressure is virtually non-existent at the Lithuanian-Belarusian border, but in the case of the Polish-Belarusian or Latvian-Belarusian borders, it is fluctuating due to various political discussions. What can be observed is that the number of people trying to cross the Polish-Belarusian border has slightly decreased, but, as colleagues have pointed out, the flow on the Latvian-Belarusian border has always been present and is present, and there is a general opinion that the Latvian-Belarusian border is also easier to cross, so these people are also more likely to choose, either themselves or through carriers, the Latvian-Belarusian border."
Pujāts added that it is not as easy to cross the border as it first seems. It is now easier for border guards to move along the fence, it is possible to detect violations more quickly, and the physical barrier prevents people from crossing the border.
It is true, however, that migrants are well equipped, for example with tools to damage the fence. There are many attempts to damage the infrastructure, Pujāts said.
The attitude of violators has also changed. People are becoming more aggressive, defying the demands of border guards, and running away. There have been cases when border guards have to use physical force and special means to restrain violators.
