Lithuanian border guards are trying to send seven Cuban citizens, including two minors, to Belarus. They requested asylum and refuse to leave, according to the authorities.
This was confirmed to BNS by Giedrius Mišutis, spokesman the State Border Guard Service (VSAT), after the case was reported by the NGO Sienos Grupė (Border Group) on Facebook.
According to the Sienos Grupė, the Cubans came in March, the group includes a pregnant woman and possibly a victim of human trafficking. The organisation says their asylum applications have not been processed.
Meanwhile, according to Mišutis, officials are trying to send three adult men, two teenage girls, and two adult women to Belarus, from whence they entered Lithuania, but they refuse to leave and are stuck at the Medininkai Checkpoint.
“As the traffic at the checkpoint is quite heavy, they are on the carriageway, it has been decided to stop the traffic at Medininkai Checkpoint until they leave Lithuania. [...] Further negotiations are underway to prevent them from entering Lithuania and to return them to Belarus,” said Mišutis.
He later said that the Cubans were returned to a VSAT facility and traffic was resumed at the Medininkai Checkpoint.
“Traffic has resumed at the checkpoint. [...] These people are temporarily transported to one of the units of the State Border Guard Service, the Foreigners Registration Centre, and we will keep dealing with the issue of how to return them to Belarus, since they were not allowed into Lithuania and did not receive asylum,” Mišutis, told BNS.
“Their legal status remains unchanged. [...] We will decide, discuss and look for solutions. For the time being, they will remain in Lithuania with the same status,” he added.
Mišutis said that the Cubans had arrived from Belarus three weeks ago through the same checkpoint and applied for asylum.
“The Migration Department has examined their asylum applications, assessed all the circumstances and threats and decided that there are no grounds to grant them asylum,” said Mišutis.
The Siena Group said that the girl in the group had started school in Pabradė while awaiting the Lithuanian decision.
Meanwhile, Mišutis said that the Cubans were held in VSAT units while their applications were being processed, but were “not allowed into Lithuania”.
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