Last week, Lithuania closed a migrant camp in Rukla, as most of its inhabitants have fled to Western Europe. Another camp in Pabradė will soon be dismantled as well.
The migrant camp in Rukla is now quiet and empty. Last year, 150 modular housing units were built there to house around 500 migrants who entered Lithuania from Belarus. Most of them have now fled to the West.
“Those who are left are those who do not have a major attraction in the West, neither friends nor relatives,” said Irmantas Gudonavičius, the manager of the Rukla camp.
Kifah Sharif, an Iraqi who has been moved from a modular housing unit to a permanent building, says conditions are slightly better there, but he might still try to leave for Germany.
“I have already tried to leave with my daughter. We were in two different cars. My daughter is lucky, she is already in Germany. She is 16. And I stayed here. [...] The police stopped the car I was in and brought us back. I don’t know how, but I’ll try my best to get back to my daughter,” he told LRT TV.
According to official statistics, there are now six times fewer migrants in Lithuania compared to January this year. In August alone, more than 500 foreigners left the country. If stopped in other EU countries, migrants are returned to Lithuania.
“This year, Lithuanian officials have stopped 260 foreigners trying to leave Lithuania, while Polish officials have also returned around 190 of them to the Lithuanian border,” said Giedrius Mišutis, a spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service (VSAT).
The migrant camp in Medininkai has already been closed at the beginning of September. The Pabradė camp will also be dismantled soon, and the migrants moved to permanent buildings in Kybartai.
“The most vulnerable groups are families with children, and they will live in the migrant accommodation centre until we can find work and housing for them, and they can move out. They will certainly not stay on the streets,” said Laura Perevičiūtė, a spokesperson for the Social Security and Labour Ministry.
Migrants are accommodated until their asylum applications are reviewed. If they are rejected, foreigners must be returned to their countries of origin within five years.
Migrants who remain in Lithuania have the right to move freely within the country and work. However, the search for work is still slow. According to the Social Security and Labour Ministry, six foreigners have found employment so far.
“Finding a job is difficult. First of all, because of the language barrier. Secondly, it all depends on whether you have a residence permit in Lithuania. Now, we have a work permit, but we don’t get a residence permit,” Carl E Davis, a migrant from Ghana, explained.
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