Authorities say migrants from Somalia, Ethiopia, Algeria and Sudan were en route to Germany via Latvia and Lithuania

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom

WARSAW — Polish border authorities have arrested 28 African migrants attempting to enter the country illegally through the Suwałki Gap, a sensitive border corridor between Lithuania and Belarus, the Warmia-Masuria Border Guard (WMOSG) announced this week.

According to information cited by wPolityce, the migrants were transported across the European Union’s external borders by couriers operating from Latvia and Lithuania, with Germany identified as their final destination.

The Suwałki Gap, situated between Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, has increasingly become a route for migrants seeking to bypass heavily monitored sections of the Polish-Belarusian frontier. While the area contains no formal border controls within the EU’s internal Schengen zone, Polish authorities retain the right to conduct road checks.

Colonel Daniel Wojtaszkiewicz, commander of the WMOSG, told the Polish News Agency (PAP) that his officers have been deployed to reinforce surveillance in the region.

“In May alone, we stopped vehicles in Gołdap, near Ełk, in Pisz, and in the Suwałki district, carrying 28 African nationals,” Wojtaszkiewicz said. Among the detained were 22 Somalis, four Ethiopians, one Algerian, and one Sudanese. Migrants were transported in buses, passenger cars, and in some cases, hidden in vehicle trunks.

The drivers included a Latvian national, a Ukrainian, and a stateless individual with Latvian-issued documents.

WMOSG spokeswoman Major Mirosława Aleksandrowicz confirmed that use of the Suwałki Gap for illegal migration is not new. In 2023, authorities detained 134 migrants during vehicle inspections in the Warmia-Masuria region. In 2024 so far, 11 additional migrants were stopped near Suwałki, while other Polish security services, acting on WMOSG intelligence, detained another 50 migrants entering from Lithuania and Latvia.

“Through risk analysis, we know which communication routes to send officers to check cars,” Colonel Wojtaszkiewicz explained. “We always react when the situation requires it.”

Migrants reported paying between $2,500 and $4,000 to smugglers to facilitate their entry into Belarus and continue on to Germany, often via complex transit routes through Lithuania or Latvia and into Poland.

Poland is enforcing its readmission agreement with Lithuania, under which migrants intercepted within Polish territory are returned to the last EU country they passed through. Meanwhile, drivers involved in human smuggling face criminal charges under Polish law and can be sentenced to between six months and eight years in prison.

Additional patrols have been deployed to the Suwałki Gap in response to the uptick in smuggling activity, as Polish officials work to curb unauthorized migration amid ongoing concerns over security at the EU’s eastern frontier.