Belarusian challenges Lithuania’s residency revocation at human rights court

The European Court of Human Rights has begun examining a complaint by a Belarusian citizen whose temporary residence permit in Lithuania was revoked, according to court documents.

The woman has filed a case against Lithuania, alleging that the decision violated her right to private and family life under the European Convention on Human Rights.

According to her application, she married a Lithuanian citizen in September 2019 and lived in both Lithuania and Belarus.

In Grodno, she worked for 24 years as head of the sales and marketing department at the state television and radio company Grodno. Lithuanian authorities cited her long-term employment at the state broadcaster as part of their assessment.

Since 2020, Lithuania’s Migration Department had issued her two temporary residence permits. However, when she applied in May 2023 to renew her permit on the grounds of family reunification, the request was denied.

According to the complaint filed with the Strasbourg-based court, the Migration Department concluded that the woman’s personal interest in residing in Lithuania on family reunification grounds could not take precedence over the country’s national security interests.

The department said her 24 years of employment at the Grodno state broadcaster indicated that she was a compliant and loyal employee who had established long-term professional ties within the organisation.

The woman said she was informed that she and her husband could instead live in Belarus.

Authorities also accused her of providing inaccurate information about the countries she had visited or resided in while holding her temporary residence permit. When applying for its renewal, she did not disclose that she had periodically travelled to Belarus.

As a result, she was barred from entering Lithuania for two and a half years starting in August 2023.

The woman unsuccessfully appealed the decision in Lithuanian courts.

According to the Migration Department, 1,634 Belarusian citizens were deemed to pose a threat to national security last year. Of those, nearly 400 were denied temporary residence permits in Lithuania, and more than 1,000 previously adopted decisions were revised.