Recent reports highlight ongoing abuses of migrants and asylum seekers by Lithuanian border guards, including arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, and pushbacks into Belarus. The Human Rights Monitoring Institute (HRMI), a GDP partner in Lithuania, recently documented three cases involving unlawful restrictions of migrants’ liberty, abuses by Lithuanian authorities, and pushbacks to Belarus. According to their report, […]
Immigration detention in Lithuanian (from report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture 2021 visit to Lithuanian)
Preliminary remarks (Read full CPT report) 88. In 2021, Lithuania faced an unprecedented influx of foreign nationals irregularly entering itsterritory through its land border with Belarus. Between May and mid-August, 4 110 persons wereapprehended by security forces in this context. 89. This influx of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants led to the Lithuanian governmentdeclaring an […]
Lithuania: Covid-19 and Detention
In July 2021, Lithuania accused Belarus of using vulnerable migrants and asylum seekers as political pawns in its ongoing spat with the EU by pushing them across the border into Lithuania and other neighbouring countries. The EU had previously imposed sanctions on Belarus in June over an “escalation of serious human rights violations and the […]
Lithuania: Covid-19 and Detention
According to recent news reports, Lithuanian authorities are considering expanding the capacity of the Pabrade Detention Centre (the “Foreigners Reception Centre) as a response to an increase in irregular migration from Belarus. Previously, the Global Detention Project (GDP) reported on this platform that the government announced in March 2020 a series of COVID-related measures that […]
Lithuania: Covid-19 and Detention
Lithuania’s migration situation has been shaped by steep population decline since it joined the EU (dropping by some 15 percent since 2004), shrinking migrant population, and relatively minor asylum pressures (with roughly 400 asylum applicants a year). And yet, the country remains among the worst performers with respect to its integration policies, according to the […]
