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The highest number this year. Over the past 24 hours, 50 migrants have attempted to cross from Belarus into Lithuania

The highest number this year. Over the past 24 hours, 50 migrants have attempted to cross from Belarus into Lithuania

27 April 2026, 18:01

The highest number this year. Over the past 24 hours, 50 migrants have attempted to cross from Belarus into Lithuania — The Belarus-Lithuania border

Over the past 24 hours, 50 migrants have attempted to enter Lithuania illegally from Belarus. According to the country’s State Border Guard Service, this is the largest number of people since the start of 2026. Those detained claimed they had arrived from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.

This was reported by LRT.

According to the Lithuanian broadcaster, two groups of migrants attempted to enter Lithuania.

One consisted of 11 people and the other of 39. There was one woman in the second group.

Those detained claimed they had arrived from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. Nine of them held Afghan passports, whilst the rest had no documents whatsoever.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service states that it had previously intercepted 26 and 37 illegal migrants on 26 and 18 April respectively.

According to the service, migrants fleeing Belarus are usually men aged around 20–40 — ‘physically fit and healthy’.

“In total, 612 illegal migrants were denied entry to Lithuania in 2026. In 2025, over 1,600 attempts to enter the country from Belarus via unauthorised crossings were recorded, compared to 1,002 attempts in 2024,” the broadcaster reports.

It also adds that the increase in the number of migrants from Belarus to EU countries began in 2021. This, LRT suggests, is linked to the deterioration of the regime of the country’s self-proclaimed president, Alexander Lukashenko.

Lithuanian border guards say that since the start of the migration crisis, they have managed to prevent over 25,000 foreigners from entering the country illegally.

As a reminder, in 2022, Lithuania built a fence along the border with Belarus. A physical barrier — consisting of fencing and barbed wire — was erected along a 552-kilometre stretch. The decision to erect the fence was taken following the influx of illegal migrants from Belarus in 2021.

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