Polish Border Guards Stop Truck with 54 Illegal Migrants from Latvia

Polish border guards on Friday stopped a truck attempting to enter Poland from Lithuania. The vehicle's semi-trailer was hiding 54 illegal migrants – citizens of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. The driver is a Romanian national.

The detained migrants will be sent back to Latvia, as they had originally come from there, the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service (VSAT) announced on Thursday. VSAT spokesman Giedrius Mišutis noted that such a large number of illegal immigrants in a single vehicle is unusual – normally groups are much smaller and travel in cars or minibuses. He emphasized that secondary migration from Latvia is becoming a daily occurrence.

So far this year, more than 7,000 people have been prevented from illegally crossing the border from Belarus and Latvia. Illegal migrants who manage to enter Latvia from Belarus often travel through Lithuania to other European Union countries.