After smuggling from Belarus
Refugee dies of hypothermia in Latvia
12/20/2022, 10:06 p.m
The Belarusian ruler Lukashenko keeps up the pressure on the EU’s external border with illegally smuggled migrants. A refugee from Afghanistan who was brought to Latvia in this way paid for the operation with his life because of the freezing temperatures.
In Latvia, a migrant from Afghanistan who was illegally smuggled across the border from neighboring Belarus to the Baltic EU country has died of severe hypothermia. According to the Latvian border guard, the man died in a clinic in the town of Rezekne, where he was taken with another migrant. The authorities in Riga announced that the two Afghans had previously been brought to Latvia through a hole in the temporary border fence.
Latvia has a 172-kilometer border with authoritarian Belarus. The Baltic state accuses the neighboring country and its ruler Alexander Lukashenko of bringing migrants from crisis regions to the border in an organized manner. In late summer 2021, the situation at the EU’s external border escalated. Thousands of people tried to enter the European Union illegally. Latvia then responded by increasing border protection and building a border fence. In August 2021, the government in Riga declared a state of emergency in the border region and authorized border guards to turn away migrants. Riga itself has repeatedly come under criticism for its strict approach. Most recently, the aid organization Doctors Without Borders accused the authorities of pushing back migrants despite the freezing temperatures.
Lithuania reports damage to border fence
Lithuania also reported a similar incident last week. According to the Lithuanian border guard, migrants with frostbitten feet were illegally smuggled across the border. Belarusian security forces are said to have damaged the border fence newly built by Lithuania in the wake of the migration crisis in late summer 2021 and sent a total of four migrants across the border, according to the border guard. A published by the authority in Vilnius Video should prove the incident.
The four men were also from Afghanistan. Three of them reportedly complained about their state of health and were taken to a clinic for examination – two of them with suspected frostbite.