The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service (VSAT) has received 194 asylum applications this year, according to the VSAT spokesperson Lina Laurinaitytė-Grigienė.
Among them were 40 Iraqis, 34 Belarusians, 18 Afghans, 17 Russians and 13 Syrians.
"These 194 [asylum applications] were submitted at border checkpoints or after crossing the border illegally," Laurinaitytė-Grigienė told BNS.
Twenty-eight asylum applications were filed by people who crossed the border irregularly.
"The vast majority of them were Belarusian citizens who illegally entered Lithuania for humanitarian purposes as possible victims of the Belarusian regime," the spokesperson said.
In most cases, Lithuania’s border guards do not accept asylum applications from people who crossed the border irregularly and instead return them to Belarus.
A total of 127 people are currently accommodated in the Foreigners Registration Centre (URC), 62 of whom are subject to movement restrictions, Laurinaitytė-Grigienė said.
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