CYIL vol. 13 (2022)

CYIL 13 ȍ2022Ȏ MIGRATION FROM BELARUS TO LITHUANIA, POLAND, LATVIA IN 2021–2022 … There is also proof that Belarusian authorities, border guards escorted people to the borders of Lithuania, Latvia, Poland. In one case, on 8 November 2022 the case was documented were Belarusian authorities escorted an estimated 1,000 people, most of whom are from the Middle East, to the Polish border, documented by videos and photos. 46 Persons speaking to UN representatives stated that “while in Belarus, they had been beaten or threatened by security forces, and also alleged that the Belarusian security forces forced them to cross the border, instructing them when and where to cross, and prevented people from leaving the border area to return to (the capital) Minsk.” 47 The involvement of Belarusian authorities was indirectly recognized by Alexander Lukashenko, de facto leader of Belarus, in an interview to BBC, where he stated, that “maybe someone helped them, I won’t even look into this”. 48 He also stated that “I told them [the EU] I’m not going to detain migrants on the border, hold them at the border, and if they keep coming from now on I still won’t stop them, because they’re not coming to my country, they’re going to yours.” 49 Thus, it is evident that Belarusian authorities were involved in the facilitation of the illegal migration and had the intentions to “flood” the neighbouring countries of EU with illegal migrants. In this way the migration did not happen “as usual”, “normally” and the reaction to this crisis will illustrate this point. Lithuania, as well as 145 other countries, is party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and its 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees from 28 April 1997. The Convention grants refugee status to persons, who “owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it”. 50 In this case the author will take into analysis the policy of Lithuania and will dwell on different aspects related to this situation. The borders of Lithuania were not closed totally, from August 2021 the persons trying to enter Lithuania from Belarus were directed to border crossing points for entry. Therefore, the entry was not prohibited entirely, only the crossing of the border in non-designated areas was prevented. Thus, the main legal question is regarding the obligations of a state regarding allowing the entry of persons to the territory of the state by crossing the border in illegal manner, not in 46 ROTH, A. ‘Belarus escorts 1,000 migrants towards Polish border’ The Guardian (Moscow, 8 November 2021) accessed 29 May 2022. 47 ‘End ‘appalling’ Belarus-Poland border crisis, UN rights office urges’ UN News (21 December 2021) accessed 31 May 2022. 48 ROSENBERG, S. ‘Belarus’s Lukashenko tells BBC: We may have helped migrants into EU’ BBC News (Minsk, 19 November 2021) accessed 31 May 2022. 49 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59343815 50 189 UNTS 137. The question of entry to the state in international legal acts and exercise of state jurisdiction

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