A nighttime tunnel in Varėna triggered surveillance alerts, leading to a rapid roundup and a criminal probe into suspected cross-border people smuggling.
Border guards from the Kabelyai border post detained 18 illegal migrants who dug a tunnel from Belarus to the Varėna District in southern Lithuania, and returned them to Belarus.
According to the border guards, the incident occurred in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, May 6. Lithuanian border guards, who were monitoring video surveillance systems, noticed that a large group of migrants emerged from the tunnel on the Lithuanian side of the border. The tunnel had been dug under a border fence wrapped with barbed wire, which Lithuania had installed to deter illegal migration from Belarus.
Tunnel and Detention of Migrants
Border guards detained 18 migrants who emerged from the tunnel and fled into the forest. All those detained were young men. All except one claimed to be from Afghanistan. Only three of them had Afghan passports, and the rest were without documents. One of the migrants claimed to be from Sri Lanka but had no identity documents.
It was established that the detainees were not in any danger. After examining the circumstances, it was decided not to allow the migrants onto Lithuanian territory and to return them to Belarus.
Additionally, in the border zone near the place of the migrants’ discovery, border guards stopped a vehicle with Lithuanian license plates. The driver was a 41-year-old Ukrainian citizen, and the passenger was a 33-year-old Ukrainian citizen. According to preliminary information, the Ukrainians, who legally reside in Lithuania, had arrived to pick up seven migrants. The Ukrainians were detained.
A pre-trial investigation was initiated into illegal transportation of people across the state border, which carries a fine or imprisonment for up to 8 years.
This was the second case this year of migrants attempting to dig a tunnel from Belarus to Lithuania. Earlier, on April 6, a tunnel was discovered in the Vilnius District.
According to VSAT, Belarusian security forces know about the tunnels. VSAT added that recently, illegal migrants trying to reach Lithuania from Belarus are predominantly men aged 20 to 40, who are in good physical shape, often bold and trying to avoid contact with border guards.
Since the beginning of the year, border guards have detained 731 migrants attempting to reach Lithuania from Belarus.
In March, Lithuanian border guards at the Belarus border turned away 18 migrants who were attempting to illegally cross into Lithuania.
Further events in the region underscore the need to strengthen border controls and continuously monitor migration flows via Belarus.