27 April, Vitebsk /Diana Kurilo - BELTA/. Border guards have once again thwarted an attempt to illegally cross the border of Belarus with Latvia in the Braslav district and detained a group of illegal migrants, the assistant head of the Polotsk Border Guard Detachment for Media Relations, Denis Glebko, told a BELTA correspondent. Late in the evening of April 26, a border patrol moving along the Belarusian-Latvian border detained two citizens from former USSR countries. The two men, born in 1976 and 1991, intended to illegally enter Latvia and then travel to Belgium. It was found that the elder of the detainees had been to EU countries several times. He had travelled there on both tourist and work visas, and then applied to the relevant authorities for refugee status. While his application was being processed, he lived on social benefits, occasionally taking odd jobs. Since there were no legal grounds for granting him refugee status, the migration services denied his request and offered him the opportunity to leave the country of residence. At the same time, the aspiring refugee received a plane ticket and about $4,000 for expenses from the authorities. His last attempt to obtain refugee status was in Germany last year. This time, the would-be migrants failed to obtain a visa to enter the EU and decided to cross the border illegally. An investigation is underway regarding this incident. Border violators face deportation and a fine of up to Br5 million each. In mid-April, servicemen of the Polotsk Border Detachment also detained three illegal migrants attempting to enter EU countries. According to Denis Glebko, to prevent attempts at illegal border crossing and smuggling, the border patrol units have been reinforced with cadets from the Border Guard Service Institute. -0-

BELTA