- Fifty-six clandestinely transported migrants intercepted
Germany's Federal Police nabbed 56 undocumented migrants at the border with Poland since last Friday. Many of them claimed their journey began via the Belarus route, passing through Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, as reported by the Federal Police.
Twenty-eight of these individuals hailed from Somalia. In the wee hours of the morning, a dozen Somali nationals were picked up in Lebehn, a village in Vorpommern-Greifswald. Other countries of origin included Syria, Iraq, Ethiopia, Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and Eritrea. The Federal Police attributed these 56 individuals to nine separate smuggling cases. Two Pakistani and one Indian were reportedly sent back to Poland.
On a national scale, around 3,100 unauthorized entries through the infamous "Belarus route" were recorded in the first half of the year. Based on the police's projection for the entire year 2023, over 11,932 people are estimated to have entered Germany through this route.
Poland and the EU have levied accusations against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, for allegedly assisting people from crisis regions in illegally entering the EU since 2021. This illicit path begins in Belarus, skirting the EU's external border and concluding in Poland.
The German government is actively advocating for strengthening measures to provide better [Protection of the borders], considering the increasing unauthorized entries through the "Belarus route." Despite Poland and EU's accusations against Putin and Lukashenko, it's crucial for Germany to fortify its border defenses to prevent such flows of undocumented migrants.
