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A30 world news
Diahuebs 15 Juli 2021

Lithuania struggles with migrant influx opened by Belarus

(AP) — Mustafa Hussein to pressure her country’s in- to the Lithuanian border and
Hamad kicked a dirty ball frastructure and politics. helping them cross in lightly
between two old tires in guarded areas.
the schoolyard where he “The organized mass immi-
spends most of his time. gration is revenge,” she told Belarus’ Border Guard Com-
He and dozens of other The Associated Press. mittee wouldn’t comment.
migrants are fenced in at
an old school after walk- “Immigrants are being used Simonyte said the migrant
ing at night through the not only by criminals but also influx “easily triggers some
thick woods into Lithu- by regimes,” Simonyte said. people” in Europe, especially
ania from neighboring “This is a great pity that I feel those on the far right.
Belarus. for them because they are in-
strumentalized for the sake of “Even if there are no strong
“I paid 1,400 bucks after a those who do not care about such parties in the country,
friend pointed out this new people.” there are movements and
way to Europe,” said the some of them are financially
20-year-old from Baghdad as coming not to us but to en- all other things. I thought we Belarusian opposition leader linked to the sources from
he waited at the shabby two- lightened, warm and cozy are going to die in that forest. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the same regime,” she said.
story school housing 160 Europe.” But thanks to God! He saved who ran against Lukashenko
people. Recounting his jour- us and made it possible for and fled to Lithuania under Verebiejai residents expressed
ney from Iraq for a better life At the same time, authorities us to arrive here,” al-Garawg official pressure in Minsk, worry over the migrants.
in the European Union, he in Minsk have barred most said. shares Simonyte’s view.
added: “They said it is a nice Belarusian citizens from “We know very well what
shortcut by plane to Minsk.” leaving the country. None of the 160 housed at “It’s obviously an attempt of will follow these first birds,”

the Verebiejai school has a revenge by (Lukashenko’s) farmer Jonas Bredikis said.
The building is one of many The migrants at the school in passport. Some say they lost regime to Lithuania and the “We do not want to see ter-
facilities that Lithuania Verebiejai, a village about 140 their documents on their whole European Union for rible things here that are hap-
quickly converted to hold kilometers (85 miles) west of trek, while others say they their support of the civil soci- pening in France, Spain and
hundreds of people from the Vilnius, are under police sur- were confiscated in Belarus. ety in Belarus,” she said. elsewhere.”
Middle East and Africa — an veillance and aren’t allowed
influx that officials in the Bal- to leave. Some tested posi- Lithuanian authorities are Simonyte charged that Rus- An anti-migrant group of
tic country say was unleashed tive for COVID-19 and have using the migrants’ phones sian President Vladimir Putin more than 50 vehicles or-
by Belarusian authorities in a been isolating inside. to identify them while over- used similar tactics in 2016, ganized last weekend in the
“hybrid war” against the EU. whelmed regional courts encouraging migrants to Raigardas border district
On Tuesday, six migrants fled process their asylum applica- cross into Norway and Fin- was turned away by police.
Daily arrivals sometimes a compound in the nearby tions. land. Russia denied the alle- More actions are planned,
reach triple digits as migrants Lazdijai district, triggering gations at the time. and social media was buzz-
cross the frontier and ap- a search by police with dogs On Tuesday, Lithuania’s par- ing with warnings of “pos-
pear in the woods in front and helicopters. liament passed legislation “Putin and Lukashenko re- sible threats.” In the port
of Lithuanian border guards, to speed up deportations of ally do not care about people of Klaipeda, tenants in one
encounter locals picking Like other Iraqis, Hamad those crossing the border il- from Iraq or African coun- apartment building organized
mushrooms, or simply walk used an agency that arranged legally. Critics say this might tries. They just want to use a rally after rumors spread
into towns. More than 1,700 direct flights to Minsk. violate their human rights, them as a tool to increase that hundreds of migrants
have arrived in recent weeks, but the government and law- pressure on the EU and po- would be housed in their
compared with only 80 for all “The plane was full,” he said. makers dismiss that. tentially inspire unhealthy neighborhood — a claim that
of 2020. political debates,” she said. proved false.
Iraqi Airways has two flights “This is an extreme situa-
Lithuania says the influx is an a week to Minsk on Boe- tion,” Interior Minister Agne Belarusian opposition activist As he passed the time by
act of retaliation by Belaru- ing 747s that can hold up to Bilotaite said. “This is not a Pavel Latushka alleged that watching a family of storks
sian President Alexander Lu- 500 passengers. Its website normal migration, it is not a a recent Lukashenko decree nesting on a pole at the
kashenko. Since the authori- showed that a flight Wednes- normal migration path. It is a offering visa-free entry to school in Verebiejai, Hamad
tarian leader’s reelection to a day is full, as are the next two. hybrid war against us, so the Belarus for nationals from said the birds reminded him
sixth term in an August 2020 response must be adequate.” 73 countries to get vaccinat- of those he used to see near
vote that the West denounced Once in Minsk, Hamad said ed against COVID-19 was his home in Iraq, “but now
as rigged, he has cracked he and others were taken Foreign Minister Gabrielius aimed at increasing the mi- they are gone.”
down on opposition protests to a hotel where their pass- Landsbergis will visit Turkey grant influx. He said a special
in his country. unit of the Belarusian border Of his own journey, he said:
ports were seized. Four days and Iraq this week to try to agency was taking migrants “I left because this is a chance
later, cars picked them up in open repatriation channels
In May, Belarus diverted a groups of three. for those denied asylum in
passenger jet to Minsk to ar- Lithuania.
rest a dissident journalist, and ADVERTISEMENT
the EU responded to what it Frontex, the EU’s border
deemed an act of air piracy “The driver spoke Kurdish. agency, has pledged to bolster
with tough sanctions. Lu- He dropped us at dusk in its support “due to the grow-
kashenko, in turn, ordered a the middle of the forest and ing migratory pressure at the
halt to cooperation with the pointed in the direction to- border with Belarus.” New
EU on stemming illegal mi- wards the European Union,” sections of barbed wire fence
gration. Hamad said. were erected this month,
with plans to invest 41 mil-
“If some think that we will Another Iraqi, Haidar al-Ga- lion euros ($48 million) to
close our borders with Po- rawg, said he paid $1,500 to reinforce the entire 678-ki-
land, Lithuania, Latvia and reach Minsk and had hiked lometer (421-mile) border
Ukraine and become a camp with others through a forest with Belarus.
for people fleeing Afghani- and even a swamp, “but we
stan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya kept walking through the wa- Lithuanian Prime Minister
and Tunisia, they are mis- ter.” Ingrida Simonyte said that by
taken,” he said last week. “We encouraging the flow of mi-
won’t hold anyone. They are “We faced wild animals and grants, Lukashenko is seeking