MINSK, 17 October (BelTA) – As many as 235 transit illegal migrants have been stopped at the Belarusian border so far this year, BelTA learned from State Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus Stanislav Zas during the 82nd session of the Council of Border Guard Commanders in Minsk on 17 October.
Stanislav Zas said: “Attempts of illegal migrants from countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America to reach countries of the European Union never stop. We apprehended 545 such persons at our border last year and 235 ones so far this year.”
A reliable system to ensure security of the borders has been created. Nevertheless, 28 persons affiliated with illegal armed groups and extremist terrorist organizations were detected in the course of trying to cross the Belarusian border in 2018 and 20 persons so far this year.
Efforts of international crime groups to set up stable channels to smuggle drugs have increased. As much as 1,600kg of narcotics has been seized at the border this year.
According to Stanislav Zas, advancing cooperation in the area of protection of external borders has always been a priority in Belarus. Common approaches to understanding border matters, to coordination, and collective efforts improve the effectiveness of border protection. The CIS Council of Border Guard Commanders has existed for 27 years already. A lot of work has been done in this time: model laws were developed, joint operations were staged, the best practices are shared, and other measures are taken.
Delegations of the border services of the CIS member states and the coordinating service of the CIS Council of Border Guard Commanders, heads of interacting CIS agencies (the CIS Executive Committee, the CIS Antiterrorism Center, the Bureau for coordinating fight against organized crime and other dangerous kinds of crime) took part in the session.
Participants of the session are expected to discuss the state of affairs at external borders of the CIS member states and its development trends, results of the work of the CIS Council of Border Guard Commanders in 2019 and priority tasks for 2020, results of joint operations and their organization in the future.
