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Despite the position of the European Court of Justice, Lithuania keeps Afghan immigrants away – EURACTIV.com


Lithuania pushed five Afghan migrants back to Belarus shortly after crossing the border on Thursday (September 9), although the European Court of Human Rights earlier stated that they should be allowed to stay.

Their lawyers said that since August 29, these immigrants have tried to enter Lithuania at least 10 times, but have not succeeded. Their case has been submitted to the European Court of Justice.

The Lithuanian Border Guard said the five men were detained and sent back to Belarus just before crossing the border at noon on Thursday.

“We intend to not allow illegal immigrants to enter Lithuanian territory,” the guard said in a statement.

This year, more than 4,100 immigrants from the Middle East and South Asia entered Lithuania. The European Union accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of sending them to the border with EU countries in retaliation for EU sanctions imposed on the Minsk government.

Since the beginning of August, Lithuania has been expelling immigrants, allowing only dozens of people to enter.

On Wednesday, the European Court of Human Rights stated that after the Taliban seized power in Kabul on August 15, Afghan migrants were vulnerable and were seeking international protection.

“Applicants should not be transferred to Belarus, provided that they are already on Lithuanian territory”, waiting for further procedures before September 29, it said.

The head of the border guard, Rustamas Liubajevas, told the BNS news line that the Lithuanian courts are not obliged to allow immigrants to enter from Belarus.

The immigration lawyer Asta Astrauskiene told Reuters that they left Belarus on Sunday and have been hiding in Lithuania ever since. She said that the border guards were called to the location by lawyers on Thursday, but they drove the immigrants to Belarus.

“We will now inform the court of the situation and ask it to tell Lithuania to let them return,” Astrauskin said. She told BNS that after seeking help from another lawyer, she got in touch with the immigrants.

The Minister of the Interior Agni Bilotaite told Reuters that she believed the case was “a clear attempt to open up new avenues for illegal immigrants by manipulating the Afghan incident.”

“Lithuania is ready to help Afghan citizens who arrive legally. But we will not allow anyone to abuse our asylum system and turn Lithuanians into channels for illegal immigrants,” Bilotet said through a spokeswoman.





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