Lithuanian border guards have detained 150 irregular migrants crossing from Belarus over the past 24 hours, the State Border Guard Service (VSAT) said on Friday. Most of them have asked for asylum.
The number is the highest on record, VSAT spokesman Giedrius Mišutis told BNS, adding that it exceeded previous records of migrants stopped over one day nearly three times.
The majority of the 150 migrants have already asked for asylum in Lithuania. All will be tested for Covid-19 and will be quarantined until the results are available, VSAT said.
On Friday, the service said it had asked the government to declare a national extreme situation.
“This would allow involving additional forces, make it easier for VSAT itself to work,” Vidas Mačaitis, VSAT deputy head, told reporters. “Municipal authorities would be obliged to take care of accommodating the migrants.”
The people stopped by Lithuanian border guards include citizens of Cameroon, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.
A total of 822 irregular migrants have been detained in Lithuania while crossing the border from Belarus so far this year. Eighty-one were detained in 2020, 46 in 2019, 104 in 2018, and 72 in 2017.
“We are concerned about the flows [of migrants]. They are growing each day or week. This presents problems for the state and the service,” Mačaitis said.
The migrants detained at the border with Belarus so far this year include 481 individuals who are or claim to be Iraqis, 57 citizens of Iran, 51 from Syria, 46 from Belarus, 28 from Russia, 13 from Guinea, 12 from Turkey, 10 from Sri Lanka.
Lithuanian officials have accused Belarusian authorities of engaging in migrant smuggling. Lithuania has been beefing up its border, involving members of other services, including officers on a mission from Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.
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