The Lithuanian government on Wednesday worked out the implementation of the new law legalising pushbacks on the Lithuanian border and scrapped a parliament-approved exemption.
The Cabinet adopted a resolution for the implementation of the law that comes into force on Wednesday and legalises turning away irregular migrants trying to enter Lithuania.
In a bid to balance national security interests and the rights of migrants, the law also stipulates that foreigners are not subject to pushbacks policy “if it is established that they are fleeing armed conflicts as defined in the government’s resolution, fleeing persecution as defined in the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, or seeking to enter the Lithuanian territory on humanitarian grounds”.
However, the Interior Ministry states that there is “no objective basis” for establishing a list of armed conflicts.
“It was stated at the meeting of the National Security Commission that, in the current context of threats, there are no objective preconditions for the establishment of a list of armed conflicts where the provision on the non-admission of foreigners to Lithuania does not apply,” the Interior Ministry’s document reads.
This would help “avoid creating an attraction factor for instrumentalised migration”, it adds.
Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė said the decision to drop the exemption on migrant pushbacks was not easy.
“This decision is not easy, but in this case, we must defend ourselves when instrumentalised migration is used as a weapon,” Bilotaitė told reporters, adding that the law includes an obligation to assess each case individually.
Further reading
‘Smoke and mirrors’
The Lithuanian government submitted the bill legalising the turning away of irregular migrants, but it did not include an exemption for migrants fleeing armed conflicts.
This exception was later proposed by the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights during the bill reading stage, and it was approved by the parliament.
Politicians argued at the time that this would address the criticism of NGOs and provide a balance between national security interests and human rights.
According to Monika Guliakaitė-Danisevičienė, a lawyer and representative of the Lithuanian Human Rights Center, the government’s plans not to include a list of armed conflicts only proves that “the fears expressed by NGOs and experts have been confirmed, as one of the so-called safeguards is already being abolished”.
“It seems that the proposal to approve a list of countries from which migrants could enter Lithuania was just smoke and mirrors to soften the criticism voiced by experts against the adoption of a controversial piece of legislation that clearly runs counter to international law,” the human rights defender told BNS.
In her words, the individual assessment of migrants being turned away at the border is not properly carried out and those who have legitimate grounds to ask for asylum are also refused entry.
Lithuania has been turning away migrants trying to enter the country from Belarus for almost two years.
In early April, Vilnius launched an international case against Belarus over orchestrating migration.
Further reading
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
