The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service (VSAT) says that last Saturday’s 40 attempts at irregular border crossings from Belarus, a record daily number so far this year, did not signal “any major shift”, but noted a recent rise in secondary migration through Latvia.
“In recent weeks, we have begun to observe a trend of increasing secondary migration,” Giedrius Mišutis, VSAT spokesman, told BNS on Sunday.
“People who illegally entered Latvia from Belarus or asylum-seekers accommodated in foreigner registration centres are trying to reach the Lithuanian-Polish border through the Latvian-Lithuanian internal border and travel to the West,” he said.
The “Latvian route” for secondary migration came into use last year, Mišutis said, saw a decrease in activity the first half of 2024, but “is now being observed again”.
According to Mišutis, while Poland has now considerably beefed up its border security, Latvia has not yet fully put in place the border security infrastructure that Lithuania has.
“Enhancements and special measures in one of the three countries can lead to attempts to enter where it is easier, meaning Latvia,” he said.
Mišutis said Saturday’s 40 irregular migrants marked this year’s record number but “we don’t see any major shift”.
On Saturday, two groups of migrants, 29 and 11 people, tried to cross into Lithuania. Three people had identity documents, and all said they were from Somalia and Iran, the VSAT spokesman said.
According to the VSAT, they did not need medical assistance.
Lithuanian border guards have pushed back more than 22,000 people who tried to enter the country from Belarus since August 3, 2021.
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