MINSK, 27 September (BelTA) – Attempts to push over 150 groups of migrants from the European Union to Belarus have been registered within one week, BelTA learned from Chairman of the State Border Committee of Belarus Anatoly Lappo.
The official said: “There were about 150 groups last week (from Monday to Monday). About 2,300 people. Maybe some groups faced 2-3 attempts [to push them to Belarus].”
“But people don't want to go back. They want to go to Germany. When [law enforcement officers, border service officers of neighboring countries] leave, the migrants turn around and go back,” Anatoly Lappo explained.
The daily statistics is as impressive: 25 groups of migrants with the total number of up to 300 people. “Those are the illegal migrants, whom [the West] invited to come first and who now request aid, flee from the war. They are trying to push them out,” the official said.
Anatoly Lappo pointed out that some exhausted or beaten-up people are simply dumped in Belarus' territory. “Naturally we have to pick them up and provide medical aid to them,” he noted.
Anatoly Lappo also mentioned the situation with Afghanistan citizens, who have been stuck at the border between Belarus and Poland for weeks. “They request aid. They flee the war [to the West]. If border guard personnel and local residents [of Belarus] didn't help them, they would have perished by now. We offered to warm them up but they are intent on continuing their travels to the European Union. They had been invited to go there. Naturally the border guard personnel and local residents have helped them with food and warm clothes. Assistance will be rendered today and tomorrow. Certainly, we will not leave the people in distress. People must not be treated like that,” he said.
On the whole, Anatoly Lappo assured that the situation at the border is under control although there are certain destabilizing factors such as the situation with migrants or attempts to smuggle weapons and ammunition from Ukraine. “The current situation and the situation we had three years ago are certainly totally different,” he said.
Asked about the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, Anatoly Lappo said that work to improve the security of this border has been going on for years. New border guard stations are being set up among other things. “We've reinforced some parts of the Ukrainian border even more than we have the Polish border. We constantly work on it. Moreover, for the last five years we and Russia have been implementing a joint program to accomplish southern borders,” the official stated.
Chairman of the State Border Committee of Belarus Anatoly Lappo also pointed out that training camps are being set up in Ukraine. “Those are not boy scout camps. Military personnel are being trained over there. Naturally, there is one goal: train and come here, to Belarus for an unknown purpose.”
