RIGA, Jan 18 (LETA) - Last year Latvia received a record-high number of asylum seekers, and 140 of them left Latvia and were later detained in Germany, said Juris Rancans (New Conservative Party), the head of the Saeima defense, interior affairs and corruption prevention committee.

The committee today visited Latvia's eastern border and heard the report of the Citizenship and Migration Affairs Board (PMLP) on the situation in relation to asylum seekers.

According to PMLP, Latvia last year recorded 582 asylum seekers, mostly from Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries.

Rancans reported that some of the asylum seekers did not wait for the decision of Latvian authorities on granting of rejecting the status of asylum and left Latvia. Most often their destination is Germany, and 140 asylum seekers were detained there, and Germany decided to send them back to Latvia.

As reported, taking into consideration the steeply increasing numbers of illegal immigrants trying to cross into Latvia from Belarus, the government has declared a state of emergency that will run from August 11 until November 10, 2021, and then extended to February 10, 2022, in the following municipalities: Ludza Region, Kraslava Region, Augsdaugava Region, and the City of Daugavpils.

Latvian authorities consider attempts by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko's regime to push migrants across Latvian, Lithuanian and Polish borders are methods of hybrid warfare targeting these countries.