RIGA. Sept 12 (Interfax/BNS) - The Latvian Ministry of the Interior has drafted a government resolution to close its checkpoint in Silene on the border with Belarus (Urbany on the Belarusian side) in order to stem the flow of illegal migrants from the neighboring country, the LETA news agency reported.
At present, Latvia operates two road checkpoints (in Silene and Patarnieki) and one railway checkpoint on the joint border. Three others have been closed, which Latvia said was necessary in order to counter the flow of illegal immigration from Belarus.
The checkpoint in Patarniekie (Grigorovshichina in Belarus) will remain open to avoid negatively affecting freight transport and urgent travel for business or humanitarian purposes or due to force-majeure circumstances, LETA said.
Latvia believes the closure of the Silene checkpoint will help it to redistribute border force resources to protect its green border.
Over the past six days, border guards have foiled 894 attempts to illegally cross the border, LETA said. Pressure from illegal immigration has tripled over a short period time, it said.
On any given day the Silene checkpoint processes around 625 entries and 605 exits made by individuals; for trucks, the figures are 87 and 85, respectively.