A recent NGO report has revealed that over 120,000 pushbacks were recorded at the EU’s borders in 2024, including almost 20,000 at the eastern borders. According to the Report, many of the pushbacks involved violence, with people on the move being beaten, robbed and abandoned in dangerous conditions that sometimes resulted in death. The report also reveals that 13,600 pushbacks were recorded in Poland, 5,388 in Latvia and 1,002 in Lithuania.
Moreover, on 12 February, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) began a landmark series of hearings against Poland, Latvia and Lithuania over allegations of pushbacks to Belarus. The cases concern a number of groups of Afghans, Cubans and Iraqis who had separately attempted to enter the countries but were all allegedly pushed back.