2024-07-24 22:20:00
“At our border with Belarus, we see that there is a slight increase in the flow of illegal migrants, but we are not dramatizing it yet. Because the technical means and capabilities available today, which are deployed at the border, give us the opportunity to record all violations of the state border and detain illegal migrants,” said R. Lyubajevs to Eltai.
“It could be said that we don’t see very large groups of migrants on the other side of the border, but every now and then another group appears,” he added.
The head of the VSAT points out that Belarusian border guards continue to help illegal migrants at the border. According to him, it is also noticeable that migrants are often transported from one European Union state border to another.
“It is not news to us that Belarusian border guards help those groups. We also noticed a tendency that those illegal migrants are transported from the Lithuanian-Belarusian border to the Polish-Belarusian border, or vice versa, or to the Latvian border,” emphasized R. Lyubajevas.
“Currently, the transportation of illegal migrants through the territory of the Republic of Lithuania from the Latvian border or migrant accommodation centers has increased,” he added.
R. Lyubayev does not rule out the possibility that the flow of illegal migrants will increase even more as the cold season approaches.
“As the winter season approaches, migrant flows increase slightly. Moreover, the climatic conditions in Lithuania, in our region, are very difficult for migrants. It is not only migrants or the organizers of illegal migration who will try to push those migrants to the European Union countries, it is likely that those flows will increase”, emphasized the VSAT commander.
Sees the need to tighten border control with the Russian Federation
R. Lyubayev proposes to tighten the border control regime with Russia as well. According to the VSAT commander, in order to strengthen the security of the border, certain legislative changes are also planned.
“This year, we will also focus on strengthening the border protection of the Republic of Lithuania. The first aspect is the improvement of the legal base, securing the regime,” R. Liubajev told reporters in the Vilnius region on Wednesday.
“Currently, the situation is that our laws allow anyone to be very close to the state border, and the border guards do not have much tools to detain or prevent those people from approaching the state border. This is why we see the need to improve our legal system, legal base”, explained the VSAT commander.
Speaking about the Lithuanian-Russian border, the VSAT commander emphasized that he meant the tightening of control in certain areas of the stretch.
“We see the need to tighten the regime of the border section. Of course, not completely. Apparently, it will be necessary to assess the situation and the vulnerability of individual sections”, R. Lyubajevas taught.
He added that the possible amendments to the law proposed by the VSAT could be related to the expansion of the possibilities of border guards.
“We have identified those sections where there may be more risks of violation of the state border, and we will probably propose to improve the law on the state border and its protection in the near future, which would perhaps provide more tools and opportunities for the border guards to operate in the border section, and not just to monitor those citizens who they arrive at the state border with the right to do so and with the relevant documents,” explained the VSAT commander.
According to the current procedure, people who want to be at the border must have an identity document with them.
Last day, 12 migrants who tried to cross the border illegally were stopped at the Lithuanian-Belarusian border, the State Border Guard Service (VSAT) announced.
2024-07-24 22:20:00