The European Commission is seeking to return more migrants to their countries of origin, according to Lithuania’s European Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius.
Figures from the EU’s border guard agency Frontex show that 330,000 migrants crossed the bloc’s borders irregularly last year, a 64-percent increase compared to 2021, according to a press release issued by the commissioner's office on Saturday.
“Currently, EU countries are only able to return around 20 percent of irregular migrants to their countries of origin, that is, around 70,000 people per year,” said Sinkevičius. “I hope that Mari Juritsch, who has recently taken office as the EU return coordinator, will be instrumental in tackling this problem.”
“But this is not enough. At the next European Council, [EU] leaders will also discuss other measures to prevent illegal migration and increase the effectiveness of returns. I hope that they will endorse the European Commission’s proposals,” he added.
Lithuania has so far received around 60 million euros in EU funding for its external border and surveillance equipment.
The Commission also seeks to ramp up migrant registration in order to better manage secondary migration within the EU, where people who enter the bloc irregularly continue to travel between member countries.
“Climate change, environmental problems and military conflicts will continue to make Europe attractive to migrants,” Sinkevičius said in the press release. “The pressure will not ease, which is why the European Commission is already taking measures to prevent illegal migration.”
The commissioner discussed the issues with Rustamas Liubajevas, commander of the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service (VSAT), during his visit to a frontier station on Lithuania’s border with Belarus on Saturday.
In recent years, Lithuania experienced an uptick of irregular migration with people trying to cross its border from Belarus.
Vilnius has accused the Belarusian government of trafficking migrants in order to exert pressure on the EU, calling it a “hybrid attack”.
The Lithuanian government has introduced a policy of pushbacks, preventing migrants from crossing into the country. The policy has attracted criticism from rights groups, accusing Lithuania of violating people’s right to seek asylum.
Almost 4,200 migrants, who crossed into Lithuania from Belarus in 2021, were initially detained in accommodation centres for about a year. The vast majority of them fled Lithuania after they were allowed to move freely.
Over a thousand migrants have been returned to their countries of origin, and another 500 or so have been granted asylum.
