A video published by 15min.lt news website on Thursday showed a group of migrants stranded on the border, as Belarusian border guards clad in riot gear tried to get the people to cross into Lithuania.
“Why are we standing? Go on, that way,” says an uniformed Belarusian officer clad in riot gear. According to 15min.lt reporters, there have been a number of cases of armed Belarusian guards pushing migrants toward Lithuania.
Lithuania authorised migrant pushbacks earlier this week amid what officials say is a “hybrid attack” by the Belarusian regime, which uses irregular migration to exert pressure on the EU in response to sanctions.
Alexander Lukashenko, meanwhile, has ordered the country’s forces to seal the border, leading to incidents as seen in this video, where migrants would allegedly be stranded for hours in the strip between the two countries, according to 15min.lt
Read more: Belarus uses gunshots to force migrants over the border, says human rights monitor
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
