Up to 300 irregular migrants may attempt to enter Lithuania from Belarus per week, according to Laurynas Kasčiūnas, chairman of the parliament's Committee on National Security and Defence (NSGK).
“There are flights from Baghdad to Minsk and from Istanbul to Minsk on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This means a total of four flights, which correlate with the waves of migration,” he told BNS on Monday. “These flights basically bring people from Syria, Iraq [...]. Four flights and 600 people. Of course, not all of them travel via Lithuania and not all of them are migrants. Hence we estimate 200 to 300 people per week, that’s the worst-case scenario.”
Earlier on Monday, the committee visited the Gintaras Žagunis post to meet with the officers of the State Border Guard Service (VSAT) and review the situation at the border following a recent increase in irregular migration from Belarus.
According to the data from VSAT, nearly 300 migrants, mostly the citizens of Iraq, have attempted to enter Lithuania from Belarus.
This corresponds to the earlier threat by Alexander Lukashenko to send "drugs and migrants" to Lithuania, Kasčiūnas said.
Interior Minister Agne Bilotaitė told NSGK last week that Belarusian officers could be involved in "organised transportation of illegal migrants" from the neighbouring country.
As part of efforts to beef up security on its border with Belarus, Lithuania is planning to install surveillance systems along the entire border by late 2022, a project estimated to cost 38 million euros.
Currently, surveillance systems cover only 38 percent of the 680-kilometre border with Belarus.
On Monday, the situation at the border was also discussed by the government’s National Security Commission, convened at the request of Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė.
Darius Kuliesius, chief adviser to Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda on national security, said that the commission had discussed ways to return irregular migrants to their countries of origin more effectively.
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