Lithuania’s parliament is eyeing limits on return journeys for Belarusian migrants. If the proposals are approved, those travelling home more than once every quarter would lose their residence permits.
“This would help reduce the flood of back-and-forth trips and allow our security services to better monitor the relevant processes,” said Audronius Ažubalis, a member of the Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD) in the parliamentary opposition.
The Interior Ministry has criticised the proposal, arguing it would impose an additional burden on government agencies. According to the Migration Department, 54,000 Belarusians currently hold residence permits in Lithuania – 70% of whom are economic migrants.
“It’s important that people have work visas – so they can travel for business and visit relatives, and that things don’t get worse than they already are,” a Belarusian man told LRT TV.
“People come here to earn a living, not to cause problems. People are made to communicate – I don’t believe we [Belarusians] are bad neighbours,” added another.
Data from the border guard service shows that the number of Belarusians crossing the border is declining each year. However, politicians say security challenges are increasing.
“For years now we’ve been discussing the fact that some Belarusians, who claim to be fleeing political persecution, still return there every month,” said Giedrimas Jeglinskas, a member of the Democrats “For Lithuania”, one of the three parties in power.
Political analyst Vytis Jurkonis has urged policymakers not to ignore complex individual cases.
“There are people who probably have sick parents they need to visit, and such visits may require more frequent travel,” explained Jurkonis, head of Freedom House in Lithuania. Still, he acknowledges that there are risks.
“Belarusians themselves admit that Belarusian border officials collect data from people, question them, take them aside, and try to recruit them,” said Jurkonis.
It’s not only Belarusians who travel to Belarus – intelligence services also target Lithuanian nationals who travel to Belarus.
“Such restrictions should apply regardless of what passport someone holds – those detained, questioned or pressured include citizens of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland,” Jurkonis explained.
Just last month, the authorities announced that two Lithuanian nationals are accused of spying for Belarus.
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