The State Border Committee of Belarus has reported that 22 Chechen asylum seekers tried to cross the border into Lithuania, but most of them did not make it.

According to the press release, on the morning of May 4, 7 adults and 15 children seeking asylum from the Russian occupied Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, became confused at the “Gudogay-1” check-point on the border of Belarus and Lithuania. They departed the Moscow-Vilnius train and asked for asylum from Belarusian border guards, thinking that they were Lithuanian officials. When they realized that they had not crossed the border, they expressed their intent to move in the direction of Lithuania. During the evening, 5 families took the train, but a few hours later 16 of them were returned from Lithuania. Now, those 16 are trying to reach Poland through Brest.

The Press Service of the State Border Committee of Belarus has stated that each year about 3,000 people, mostly from the Russian occupied Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, arrive in Belarus in an effort to move into Lithuania, Latvia and Poland in search of asylum in the European Union.

*Text was written by Waynakh Online and edited by Michael Capobianco