2023-04-18 06:29:46
Over 300 organizations and individuals claim that the rejection of migrants during emergency situations will not only violate international law, but will also place Lithuania next to countries such as Hungary.
According to them, the amendments provide for the institute of civil supporters of border guards – a copy of the Hungarian model, such supporters are already called “border hunters” in other countries.
The appeal was initiated by the migration group of the organization “Global Lithuanian Leaders” (GLL), the humanitarian aid organization “Sienos grupė” and the Lithuanian Center for Human Rights.
“The amendments that have reached the consideration stage in the Seimas are not only immoral, but they will also have long-term consequences for Lithuania’s international image: with one hand, Lithuania accepts refugees from Ukraine, with the other hand, it does not even allow asylum applications to be submitted to people freezing their limbs at the border of Lithuania. Lithuania is increasingly associated with the selective rule of law,” said Lina Vosyliūtė, a member of the GLL migration group.
Among the signatories of the appeal are the European Network once morest Racism, which unites more than 150 non-governmental organizations in Europe, the Coalition of Human Rights Organizations, which unites nine human rights organizations in Lithuania, the European Council for Refugees and Exiles, which includes over 100 organizations, etc.
The human rights organization Amnesty International said on Monday that Lithuania’s bid to legalize the search of illegal migrants at the border “will give a green light to torture”.
This week, the Seimas intends to consider the amendments initiated by the Ministry of the Interior (MIA), which would enshrine in law the return of illegal migrants during a state-level emergency and state of emergency.
The main National Security and Defense Committee of the Seimas (NSGK), which considered the project, on Monday included a provision in the project as a compromise, that the return of illegal migrants would be possible only in the border section – up to five kilometers deep from the border. It was proposed by the Human Rights Committee.
The proposal of the committee stipulates that only those foreigners who intend to cross or have crossed the state border in places not designated for that purpose or who have violated the procedure for crossing the state border, and are still in the border section, will not be allowed into the territory of Lithuania.
In the draft amendments to the State Border Protection Law prepared by the Ministry of the Interior, it was written that following declaring a state-level emergency situation, foreigners who entered the country illegally are not allowed to enter without specifying where in the country they are detained.
Also, at the suggestion of the Human Rights Committee, the provision was approved that among the exceptions when foreigners are allowed into the country, there would be not only persons fleeing military aggression, but also other threats, such as armed conflicts. In addition, the concept of persecution has been supplemented by aligning it with the United Nations Refugee Convention.
Human rights defenders, who criticized the amendments legalizing the return of migrants for being contrary to international law, evaluated the version approved by the committee on Monday more favorably, although they said that the contradictions with international law remain.
Amendments to the Laws on the State Border and its Protection and the Legal Status of Foreigners are aimed at consolidating the screening of migrants at the border, which was started by order of the Minister of the Interior and later included in the Government’s resolution.
Since August 3, 2021, when Lithuanian border guards gained the right to turn illegal migrants, 20.1 thousand of them have not been allowed to enter the country from Belarus. Some foreigners tried to enter Lithuania more than once.
In 2021, almost 4.2 thousand illegally arrived from Belarus to Lithuania. migrants, but most of them left the country following the end of movement restrictions.
The State Border Guard Service claims that Belarusian officials actively contribute to illegal migration to Lithuania and the European Union.
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