Report on the situation on the Latvian-Belarusian border
Conducted by: Anna E. Griķe
Until mid-March 2025, GPB had not received any requests from people who are at Latvia-Belarus border. The first message came on March 16, 2025, which coincided with the closure of the BCP Pāternieki. Since then, GPB has received in total 46 number of requests on its alarm phone sent by people seeking advice about the access to asylum in Latvia from Belarus, looking for their missing relatives or reaching out for humanitarian or medical aid.
The below described data should not be seen as representative of the situation at the border; for instance, GPB is more contacted by people from such countries as Sudan and Somalia, while in SBG accounts on deterred people or specific arrests of smugglers during this spring, it is mainly emphasized that people from Asian origin have been deterred. In this regard, GPB has been contacted only by one person looking for his missing relative from India. The nature of these messages and the information provided is very diverse and it is very challenging to frame it into clear breakdown in terms of numbers; it is done according to the provided, not obtained information since GPB does not inquiry people about personal data by maintaining its focus on ensuring access to medical care in Latvia.
To note, that since March 16 up to April 27, the number of deterred attempts to cross the Latvia-Belarus border has been 1548. During this period, only one person has been accepted on humanitarian grounds, and it is the very same person that reached out to GPB alarm phone for emergency medical care.
- The number of requests received is 46 for the period of March 16 and April 27, 2025. As shown in the last years, more likely the requests will diminish since only a few messages corresponded to the aim of the alarm phone and in a similar way as the phone number is shared, the information will also be shared that GPB can only facilitate access to medical care.
A breakdown by weeks:
March 16 to March 23 – 3 messages
March 24 to March 30 – 9 messages
March 31 to April 6 – 5 messages
April 7 to April 13 – 5 messages
April 14 to April 20 – 16 messages
April 21 to April 27 – 8 messages
2. Division by country of origin, gender, sex and vulnerabilities when known shows that GPB has received most of its messages from people from Sudan and Somalia. These are mainly men or groups of men who reach out GPB Alarm phone. It is also almost impossible to have a breakdown of age since this information is provided the least. Nevertheless, among the requests, there are women from such countries as Gambia, Guinea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia. In 2 cases, the request came from couples from Marocco and Afghanistan. In 2 cases, the request came from siblings from Sudan. In 1 case, it was noted than in the group there is one pregnant woman with a child from DRC. 1 unaccompanied minor from Sudan in Belarus has contacted GPB to seek advice. Most people who reach out seeking advice mention that their stay in Belarus is already without any valid visa documents or that they are soon about to expire. The main fear people face is deportation.
A breakdown by countries of origin showing the number of people referred to in the message:
Sudan – 2 + 2 +2 + 1 +1 + 5 + 1 + 1 + 5 + 1 + 1 = 22
Somalia – 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 +1 +1 + 1 +1 +7 + 1 + 2 + 1 = 17
Comoros and DRC – 7 = 7 (the group did not specify the division among themselves)
Ethiopia – 1 +1 + 1 + 3 + 1 = 6
Guinea – 6 = 6
Afghanistan – 2+3 = 5
Gambia – 4 = 4
DRC – 1 + 1 = 2
Morocco – 2 = 2
Eritrea – 1 = 1
India – 1 = 1
3. Out of 46 messages, 10 messages provided information of violence from Latvian State authorities which was characterized as unproportionate and threatening, 6 messages requested medical aid and in 1 situation it was successfully ensured, 2 messages informed about missing relative in Latvia and 1 message concerned a border death, which could more likely taken place at Lithuania-Belarus border.
A thematical breakdown of information regards Latvia:
Violent pushbacks at Latvia-Belarus border by Latvian State authorities: 2 electrocution, 2 collective pushbacks, including 1 from Krāslava, 2 unproportionate use of physical force, including towards a group of 2 man and 3 women from Sudan, 3 broken phones, 1 testimony of repeated pushback up to 10 times.
Need of medical help and the outcome: 6 messages – 4 turned out to be in Belarus, 1 person has received medical help and afterwords accepted on humanitarian grounds, 1 person in need was not found by SBG and no follow-up information is known.
Search for missing relative in Latvia: 2 – one woman from Somalia and 1 man from India are said to be gone missing after crossing Latvia-Belarus border
Border deaths: 1 message about a young woman who has passed away in Belarus and had her body thrown by border guards to Latvia, but it has turned out that the more likely it took place in Belarus.