Number of border violators busted by Lithuanian border guards doubles in 2012

More individuals attempting to unlawfully cross the border has gone up on Lithuania's border with Belarus but decreased on the border with the Russian Kaliningrad region.

According to the press release, the number of busted offenders was pulled up by Georgian citizens who make three times the number of Lithuanians tho violated the state border.

Between January and June 2012, Lithuanian border guards detained 296 people for unlawfully crossing the border, as compared with 147 individuals apprehended in the same period last year.

According to the press release, the bulk of the offenders – 190 – were detained at the border with Belarus this year, as compared with 77 year-on-year.

Meanwhile, the number of violators on the border with Kaliningrad has decreased from 50 last year to 30 this year, a change the State Border Guard Service sees as a result of the launching of a technical border control system on the stretch.

"The system enables border guards to have a clear view of the entire border line and neighboring territories round the clock, and after detecting suspicions movement, all they have to do is dispatch the nearest patrol for detention of the violators," the service said.

Over the first six months of 2012, Lithuanian border guards detained 152 Georgian citizens and 56 Lithuanian citizens for violating the state border, as compared with 33 Georgians detained in the same period of 2011.

Most of the Georgians – 105 of 152 – attempted to make their entry in Lithuania from Belarus.

Other detainees included 33 Afghan citizens, 14 Vietnamese citizens, 13 Russians and eight Belorussians.

Lithuania's Criminal Code envisages a fine, arrest or up to two years in prison for unlawful border crossing.