According to the Interior Ministry in Vilnius, the text which should be definitively adopted by the Lithuanian deputies on Tuesday, April 25, aims to guarantee the security of the small Baltic state against possible attempts at destabilization led by its Belarusian neighbor. NGOs see it above all as a means of perpetuating the “pushbacks”, which consist of illegally turning back migrants without giving them the possibility of filing an asylum application, practiced by Lithuania since the summer of 2021.
Voted at second reading by a large majority of parliamentarians on Thursday 20 April, the amendment to the law on state borders provides that in ” emergency situation “, faced with the massive influx of foreign nationals at the country’s borders, the government may limit access to the territory. Border guards will then be authorized to expel migrants who have entered illegally and who are in an area 5 kilometers wide from the border. An exception was added by MEPs for people fleeing armed conflict, persecution, or in need of humanitarian assistance.
“At first glance, the proposal seems quite balanced and even includes guarantees”, notes Viktor Ostrovnoj, in charge of asylum and immigration at the Lithuanian Red Cross. However, he recalls that the state of emergency – the first decree declaring an emergency on the border with Belarus came into force on August 3, 2021 – is still in place. With the vote of the deputies, “what was supposed to be a temporary measure, to deal with short-term crises, risks becoming a new status quo”notes Viktor Ostrovnoj.
Over 20,000 pushbacks
Director of the office of the Defender of Rights in Parliament, in Vilnius, Erika Leonaite also criticizes the text. This creates, according to her, “the delusion” that Lithuania will be able to continue to guarantee the right of asylum. However, she objects.“it is an immigration service and not the border guards in the forest that is competent to determine whether a person is fleeing persecution, as defined by the Convention relating to the status of refugees”.
For example, M.me Leonaite mentions the case of four Cuban nationals, who were turned back in April 2022 while trying to enter Lithuania. They were finally granted asylum in March, after the intervention of the European Court of Human Rights. “This is proof that the system does not work”says the Defender of Rights.
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