About 30 thousand attempts to illegally cross the border from Belarus were recorded by Polish border guards in 2024.
⠀
The number of attempts to illegally cross the border with Belarus in 2024 was about 30 thousand. There were fewer of them in the second half of the year after the introduction of the buffer zone and in places where the border barrier was upgraded.
⠀
It is noted that a year earlier, about 26 thousand such attempts were recorded.
⠀
According to the agency, the record month on the border with Belarus was May, when more than 7 thousand people tried to illegally get from Belarus to Poland.
⠀
In 2021, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland reported an increase in the number of detained illegal migrants from the countries of the Middle East and Africa on the border with Belarus, accusing Minsk of creating a migration crisis. These countries decided to build a fence on the border with Belarus to combat migration.
⠀
The Belarusian side categorically denied that it was facilitating illegal migration and drew attention to the fact that the structures impede the natural migration of wild animals. Border guards have repeatedly stated about the forced expulsion of migrants by Lithuania, Poland and Latvia to Belarusian territory.
⠀
Poland has installed a fence on the land part of the border with Belarus. The fence is 186 kilometers long, five meters high, and costs 1.6 billion zlotys (about $400 million). The structure was equipped with night vision cameras, motion sensors and other electronics. Poland also introduced a buffer zone along the border with Belarus, closed to free visits.
