On Sunday, around a hundred activists in Vilnius protested Lithuania’s migration policy.
“Applying for asylum is not a crime”, “All people are legal”, “Build bridges, not walls” – protesters proclaimed on their placards.
“I came to remind the government that because of their decisions, people are sleeping in this weather somewhere in the forest near the border,” said a man who wished to remain anonymous.
“The pushback policy is unsatisfactory; it is illegal under international law. I believe that irregular migration must be tackled at the geopolitical level and not by pushing frozen people around,” he added.
Emilija Švobaitė, a representative of the May 1 Trade Union (G1PS), said that the protest followed a petition signed by nongovernmental organisations.
“A while ago, we had prepared a petition listing eight demands to change the current migration policy in Lithuania. It was signed by 27 NGOs and more than 1,000 active citizens,” Švobaitė said.
Read more: Migration crisis in Baltics and Poland
“Since none of our demands has been taken into account, we saw no alternative but to draw attention to them by protesting,” she added.
According to Švobaitė, the petition addressed Lithuania’s migrant pushback policy and legal system.
“We encourage Lithuania to adhere to the international law and to competently examine all asylum applications because today, they are examined mechanically, and the vast majority of them are being rejected,” she said.
The protest organisers also demanded that NGOs were able to act freely because not all of them are currently empowered to help migrants at the border.
Over 4,200 irregular migrants have crossed into Lithuania from Belarus this year.
Almost 5,600 irregular migrants have been prevented from entering Lithuania since the country introduced a policy of pushbacks in early August.
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