The number of illegal migrants detained in Ukraine has increased by 20-30% compared to last year, Petro Tsyhykal, chief of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, has said.
He announced this in a program named “Face to Face” on UATV channel, the press service of the State Border Guard Service said.
Tsyhykal said there has been a growing number of illegal migrants arriving in Ukraine through official entry points in Ukraine at airports and by road. The illegals had allegedly arrived in Ukraine without any intention to go to EU countries; however, some time after they were detained on the western part of the Ukrainian state border in the Zakarpattia, Lviv, and Chernivtsi regions.
“Most of the illegal migrants were detained ‘on the green’ part of the state border, among them nationals of Vietnam, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Pakistan, Morocco, Iraq, India, and Moldova. Most of them tried to get into EU countries bypassing the official checkpoints. In particular, 400 people tried to cross the border with Slovakia and 240 people—with Poland,” he said.
Since the start of the year, Ukrainian border guards have detained more than 3,000 illegal migrants. Most of them (1,950 persons) had violated the regulations of their allowed stay in Ukraine. “The leaders” in this category are the nationals of Moldova, Russia, Bulgaria, Vietnam, and Uzbekistan.
Also, the border guards have denied entry into Ukraine to more than 4,000 potential illegal migrants, arriving mostly from Moldova, Russia, Iraq, Turkey, Tajikistan, Nigeria, Libya, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and India.
