Europol uncovers hundreds of social media accounts that encourage illegal immigration from Belarus into the EU.
“A total of 455 social media accounts were revealed by the large-scale referral action that
included authorities from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Germany,” said the bloc’
law enforcement agency.
The social media accounts used the advertising of selling counterfeit ID documents and
visas or illegal transportation services to prompt illegal immigration.
“The new Belarusian migratory route is heavily advertised to migrants on social media and
instant messaging applications, representing a significant pull factor. The misuse of these
platforms by facilitators led to a large increase of departure border crossings,” Europol said in a statement.
According to The EU’s border agency, Frontex, the number of illegal border crossings at the
bloc’s eastern borders in 2021 reached almost 8,000, which is thirteen times more than in 2020 and twelve times more than 2019.
Different nationalities from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria were on this route in 2021.
Last month, the situation at the border had witnessed signs of de-escalation but remained tense.
Brussels has accused Minsk of engineering the crisis by encouraging Middle Eastern citizens
to travel to Belarus and then cross its shared borders with EU member states Lithuania,
Latvia and Poland to retaliate against sanctions imposed on high-ranking Belarusian
officials over the fraudulent August 2020 presidential election.
Brussels was accused of promoting travelling to Belarus and then crossing its shared
borders with EU member states Lithuania, Latvia and Poland among the Middle East citizens. This is to retaliate against sanctions imposed on high-ranking Belarusian officials
over the fraudulent August 2020 presidential election. But, Minsk denies the allegation.
NGOs denounced the humanitarian crisis with Poland and Belarus, where multiple people have lost their lives.
Source: Euronews
