A migrant from Sri Lanka lost a leg due to untreated bone fractures after crossing the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. The man reportedly crossed into Lithuania on Saturday, but an open fracture in his leg was left untreated for too long.
The incident was first reported by Delfi.lt. Luka Lesauskaitė, a representative of the Lithuanian Red Cross, confirmed the information and said that the State Border Guard Service (VSAT) delayed reporting the seriously injured migrant.
“The situation is very sad, the young man, born in 1997, has just had his leg amputated. My colleagues visited him after the operation, they discovered that he may lose the second leg as well. His mental condition is really bad,” Lesauskaitė said.
According to her, the man informed Red Cross representatives that he had spent five days in a forest near the border and his shoes were completely wet. “The vital functions of his legs had completely failed,” she said.
Lesauskaitė criticised the work of the border guards who, according to her, failed to notify organisations providing help to irregular migrants about a person in serious condition.
“He crossed the border on October 22 and we were informed about him on the 25th,” said the representative of the Red Cross. “According to our agreement, they have to inform us on the day the asylum application is submitted.”
The Red Cross has no information on whether there may be or have been more migrants in serious condition at the Lithuania-Belarus border, according to her.
“It is difficult to know when we are not there. We know that in Poland last year there were a number of fatalities where people froze to death. But this is an indicator that this could be the case, that there could be more cases,” Lesauskaitė said.
VSAT spokesman Giedrius Mišutis has confirmed that a migrant in serious condition was apprehended at the border last Saturday.
“Yes, there was a person who was detained with a group of 12 other illegal migrants who crossed the border in Ignalina region. [...] The border guards saw that his leg was not well, an ambulance was called, and a fracture was diagnosed,” Mišutis said, adding that the VSAT did not have detailed information about the person’s health condition.
Asked about the man’s injury, Mišutis said: “He said he was running, fell down and hurt himself.”
According to him, the man was probably crossing the border for the first time and had not been stopped by Lithuanian border guards before.
The man applied for asylum at the hospital, while the other migrants in the group were pushed back into Belarus, after being given food and clothes, according to Mišutis.
He insisted that the delay in reporting the young man to the Red Cross was not significant.
“The detention was on October 22 [Saturday], he asked for asylum at the beginning of this week [...]. He was in the care of medics, I don’t know if this is a big problem,” said the VSAT representative.
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