The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, said she was “ready to consider suspending” the visa facilitation regime for Belarus “in response to the influx of migrants to Lithuania from that country” on Monday 12 July before the European Parliament’s Committees on Home Affairs (LIBE) and External Affairs (AFET), meeting in joint session.
Although the Commission would like “contacts to be maintained with the Belarusian population”, the Commissioner said, this suspension could be considered in the light of Minsk’s actions, as the situation in Lithuania is “serious” and “deteriorating day by day”. The Foreign Ministers were also due to discuss this issue on 12 July.
The Commission is also ready to mobilise financial instruments and could make €10 million available to Vilnius in August.
“We condemn” these regrettable actions by Belarus, the Commissioner said, pointing out that most of the migrants crossing the border between the two countries are from Iraq and arrive in Belarus via flights from Istanbul or Baghdad. “There are several flights a day”, added the Commissioner, who also mentioned the recent example of migrants who arrived in Lithuania “in an Uber taxi”. They then apply for asylum there. Ms Johansson also mentioned nationals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo.
For her part, Lithuanian Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė told the elected representatives that 1,660 people had arrived in 2021, “32 times more than in 2020 and 45 times more than in 2019”. “July was particularly worrying, with arrivals on one day equivalent to all arrivals in 2020 and 2019”, with 81 migrants arriving in 2020.
The minister, who denounced Minsk’s use of the migration issue, also detailed the assistance provided by the EU and Frontex, which is providing 30 agents. The European Asylum Support Office is expected to provide up to 90 experts.
The Commissioner also indicated that 2 additional helicopters and patrol cars had been mobilised.
Also present at the hearing, Frontex Director Fabrice Leggeri confirmed “the peak in early July”, with 800 people arriving in the first week. “This is a clear sign of an intensification of the situation”. The nationalities have also changed, with people also coming from “the Gambia, Guinea, and Senegal”, he noted. Frontex will further increase its staff on the ground.
“This is clearly an operation orchestrated by the Belarusian government”, reacted French Renew Europe MEP Fabienne Keller, judging the use of migrants by the Belarusian government as “monstrous”.
MEP Tineke Strik (Greens/EFA, the Netherlands) also condemned Belarus’ actions and supported Lithuania. “This confirms all the criticisms we have made” of the Minsk regime, she said, adding, “but, on the other hand, it is extremely important that the measures taken at the external borders do not jeopardise the right of people in need of protection [...]. We must ensure that fundamental rights are respected and we must learn from what happened [in February 2020] at the border between Greece and Turkey, when we had reports of human rights violations”. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)