MINSK, 17 February (BelTA) – On 17 February Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko approved a decision on the protection of the state border by the border services in 2020, BelTA has learned.
Chairman of the State Border Committee Anatoly Lappo told reporters that the agency is set to expand the border infrastructure and keep demarcating the Belarus-Ukraine border. “Last year we hired more people. We set up six full-fledged maneuvering forces and put into operation two border guard stations on the Belarus-Ukraine border,” he added.
The State Border Committee noted that the situation on the Belarusian border in 2019 remained stable and predictable. About 4,000 people were detained for the violation of the border laws. More than 370 of them were detained for illegal border crossing, down two times over 2018.
The decrease in the number of illegal border crossings was reported across all sections of the border. “This is due to reinforcing the border by seconding more personnel and using border patrol alarm devices. Active preventive measures also contributed to the trend,” the agency informed.
At the same time, the State Border Committee added that the territory of Belarus is still used as a route of trafficking in human beings and that of illegal drugs. In 2019 border guards detected 20 illegal migration routes and detained 32 people involved. They also uncovered 18 routes of trafficking in narcotic drugs. More than 1 tonnes of drugs was withdrawn from illegal trade, two times more than in 2018.
“In 2019 we kept working on the demarcation of the border with Ukraine. All in all, more than 548km of the border was marked, with about 536km remaining. Over 1,100 boundary markers were installed, with 431 remaining,” the State Border Committee informed.
