Asylum seekers in several of Lithuania's migrant camps organised protest actions on Monday. According to the chief of the Border Guard Service (VSAT), they may have been coordinated to coincide with events on the Polish-Belarusian border, where large groups of migrants attempted to forcibly enter Poland.
Unrest broke out in migrant camps in Medininkai, Pabradė, Kybartai, and Rukla, VSAT chief Rustamas Liubajevas told LRT RADIO on Tuesday morning.
Read more: Detained migrants in Lithuania stage protest, demand freedom
“Yesterday, at 17:00, the situation was put under control in the Medininkai Foreigners' Registration Centre. In other centres, we managed to take control of the situation even earlier. A pre-trial investigation was launched, suspicions of riot organising have been brought against seven migrants,” Liubajevas said, adding that other participants in the protests have been “isolated”.
According to him, migrants were demanding to be released. They made banners, some in Lithuanian.
Liubajevas said that the VSAT believed the protests were coordinated with other groups of migrants who came to the Polish border from Belarus on Monday.
Read more: Videos show hundreds of migrants approaching Polish border from Belarus
“We have more reason to believe that the actions were coordinated and it was done via social media,” Liubajevas told LRT RADIO. “Irregular migrants communicate among themselves and their ability to use smart communication devices causes a lot of problems for us. In this case, we can say that the actions were definitely coordinated.”
Around 4,200 migrants, most of them originating from the Middle East, have crossed into Lithuania from Belarus this year. The Lithuanian parliament passed a law in August, allowing authorities to keep irregular migrants in detention for up to six months.
Lithuania has also instituted a policy of pushbacks to keep migrants out.
According to Liubajevas, 82 people were not allowed to enter Lithuania from Belarus over last night. However, there were no attempts to cross the border by force. No “very big migrant groups” have been spotted near Lithuania, he said.
Read more: Migration crisis in Baltics and Poland
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