In the first five months of the year, the German Federal Police registered 2,215 migrants who arrived illegally via the so-called ‘Belarusian route’.
The people were arrested at the German border with Poland and the Czech Republic. Their numbers have grown steadily over the year: while there were only 26 interceptions in January and 25 in February, this number rose to 412 in March, 861 in April and 891 in May.
But this is still significantly lower than last year. By the end of May 2023, police had recorded around 6,000 unauthorized entries via the Belarusian route.
Since 2021, the European Union has accused Belarus of deliberately facilitating the journey of migrants from crisis-ridden countries, mainly in the Middle East, by providing them with visas and logistical assistance.
After luring the migrants to Belarus, they are then sent to EU countries such as Poland. Brussels says this is an attempt to destabilize the 27-nation bloc in retaliation for EU sanctions on Belarus over its crackdown on pro-democracy protesters and the country’s complicity in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Many of the undocumented migrants on the route are trying to enter Germany, Europe’s largest economy, after passing through Poland and the Czech Republic.
In Germany they are housed in reception centers while their asylum application is assessed.
Poland has erected a 5.5 meter high fence on the border with Belarus, supported by cameras and guards.
But more and more people are trying to cross the border illegally: the Polish Border Guard has recorded 16,500 such attempts since the beginning of this year. In the same period in 2023 there were 11,200.
