CYIL vol. 13 (2022)

CYIL 13 ȍ2022Ȏ MIGRATION FROM BELARUS TO LITHUANIA, POLAND, LATVIA IN 2021–2022 … In this particular case the discussion could be held whether Belarus would not be considered a safe country. In some of the publications the opinion of the migrants was provided that Belarus route was one of the safest ways to get to Europe. The persecution that some of the persons in those migrant flows are fleeing is not from the Belarusian authorities. In Belarus the refugees would be the opposition figures, persons opposing the regime of Alexander Lukashenka, critics, but not the persons from third countries who do not attempt to oppose the regime. Furthermore, here it should be indicated that in the public discussions and especially in the NGO declarations and analysis the situation is widely discussed in the context of refugee law, presuming that all or a big portion of the migrants arriving to EU borders comply with the requirements of refugees. But this is not the case. The migrants themselves and the numbers of successful asylum applications indicate that the main, dominating aim of the irregular migrants is seeking better life, better economic conditions, and not the persecution in their own country. The situation in Lithuania illustrates this point. In November 2021 the Migration Department of Lithuania had examined one third – 1289 – of the requests for asylum, submitted by the migrants having illegally crossed the border between Belarus and Latvia. Refugee status was granted to 2 citizens of Eritrea, they got a permanent residence permit in Lithuania, 878 migrants were refused refugee status, and 409 procedures were abolished due to their return to the countries of origin or due to their absence. 56 More recent numbers (information of 7 June 2022) – out of 2627 migrants present in Lithuania, 1467 have the status of illegal migrant, because they either did not ask for asylum, or were denied refugee status after their request. The decision is to return them to their countries of origin. 57 130 migrants were granted refugee status and their integration process was started, and 1160 persons still have the status of asylum seeker, as their requests are still under investigation. 58 So we can see that the “success rate” of the asylum applications is around 5 percent. This does not mean that we can ignore all together the asylum seeking aspect, but this crisis is largely an illegal migration crisis rather than mass arrival of refugees. Coming back to the discussion about Refugee Convention regulation, the UN Refugee Agency further explains what is “illegal entry or presence”. It states that the concept of “illegal entry” would include “arriving or securing entry through the use of false or falsified documents, the use of other deception, clandestine entry, for example, as a stowaway, and entry into State territory with the assistance of smugglers or traffickers. The precise method Detention and Protection.’ A paper prepared at the request of the Department of International Protection for the UNHCR Global Consultations. (October 2001). accessed 31 May 2022. 56 LR Migracijos Departamentas [Migration Department of the Republic of Lithuania], ‘Išnagrinėta trečdalis neteisėtųmigrantų prieglobsčio prašymų, 260migrantų jau grąžinti į kilmės šalis’ [One third of asylumapplications from illegal migrants examined, 260 migrants already returned to their countries of origin] accessed 31 May 2022. 57 ‘Judėjimo ribojimai neteisėtiems migrantams bus panaikinti palaipsniui’ [Restrictions on the movement of illegal migrants will be phased out] Delfi.lt (7 June 2022) accessed 10 June 2022. 58 Ibid.

91