As many as 300 illegal immigrants from Vietnam have been detained in Latvia so far this year and the authorities are considering building a fence along certain stretches of the border with Russia, Latvian Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis told the public Latvian Radio, Baltic News Service reported on Thursday.

He said most of the illegal immigrants gaining entry to Latvia from Russia were Vietnamese, occasionally aided also by Latvian human traffickers.

At the same time, the minister praised the local population in the border areas, who were quick to spot the trespassers and report them to the Latvian border guards.

He said that a 100-percent protection of the Latvian border could not be ensured therefore a 12-meter-wide border strip had to be created along the border with Russia for fast response to any trespassing attempts so that "the border guards, who are now squeezing through the jungle there, could ride four-wheel bikes instead."

"The possibility of building a fence along certain stretches of the border is also being discussed but without appropriate technologies fences would fail to stop the flow of refugees," the interior minister said.

Fences can be climbed therefore the Latvian border guards need a wider border strip, sensors and other equipment to maximally reduce the number of illegal border crossings, he said.

The number of Vietnamese, who have been detained by the Latvian border guards and have requested asylum, has reached 300 this year.

"These illegal immigrants do not come from Vietnam. They come from Russia where they used to work legally or illegally," Kozlovskis said. Endit

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