A growing number of migrants are choosing Lithuania as a country of destination, according to the Vilnius Office of the International Organization for Migration (IOM Lithuania).
More than 71,000 refugees from Ukraine have arrived in Lithuania this year, the fifth-highest per capita rate, according to an IOM report. In addition, more than 20,000 Belarusians received a residence permit in Lithuania in the first 10 months of this year.
“There is a trend that more and more people are choosing Lithuania as a country of destination, making Lithuania a country of immigration,” the IOM Vilnius Office said in a statement released on Sunday.
According to the organisation, 145,000 foreigners currently live in Lithuania, or more than 5 percent of the country’s population.
Lithuania ratified the Geneva Convention in 1997, committing to accept asylum seekers. Over the past 25 years, besides Ukrainians, just over 5,000 refugees from Afghanistan, Syria, Belarus, Eritrea, and other countries have received asylum in Lithuania.
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