Friday 29 October 2021
Almost 5,000 migrants in October
Illegal entries through Belarus doubled
The Belarusian dictator Lukashenko is apparently purposefully smuggling migrants towards the EU. Those who pass the Polish border guards often want to go straight to Germany. Almost 5,000 people enter illegally in October. The federal police do not expect the situation to ease.
In October, the Federal Police have so far registered 4,889 migrants after unauthorized entry via Belarus and Poland. That was more than twice as many as in September. For the year as a whole, the Federal Police put the number of unauthorized entries on the Belarus route at 7,300. The federal police on the German-Polish border has been exposed to high migratory pressure since August. “There are currently no signs of an easing of the situation,” said the authority.
In response to EU sanctions, the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko declared in the spring that he would no longer stop migrants heading for the European Union. The EU accuses him of literally smuggling people from crisis areas. Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have reacted by increasing the security of the EU’s external border with Belarus. Nevertheless, thousands of people get through to Germany.
After a sharp increase until mid-October, the number of arrivals in Brandenburg stagnated in the past few days, according to the Federal Police. The Federal Police did not want to comment on whether this applies to the entire area of the German eastern border. Mathematically, the officially stated total numbers for the past ten days showed a slight weakening. For the period from October 20 to 24 inclusive, an average of 197 people per day can be calculated, in the period from October 25 and 26 it was calculated to be 169 each, and on October 27 and 28, 153 per day. The daily numbers fluctuate, however, according to the Federal Police.
A foreign office spokeswoman described the situation for migrants in the Polish-Belarusian border area as “depressing”. Humanitarian aid is needed. “The responsibility for resolving this crisis clearly rests with Minsk,” she stressed, referring to the Belarusian government. Jordan says it has already blocked numerous charter flights with migrants to Belarus.
The deputy government spokeswoman Martina Fietz said that the German government supports EU migration commissioner Ylva Johannsson, who wants to help Poland, Latvia and Lithuania financially with border protection.