MSF condemns pushbacks of migrants between Lithuania, Belarus

September 16, BPN. Lithuania’s policy of forcing migrants to return to Belarus is fraught with violations of their rights, according to a statement by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

“MSF is appalled by the medical and humanitarian impact of Lithuania’s hostile migration policies towards people on the move, as well as the use of inhumane practices such as pushbacks in response to people seeking safety,” the NGO said.

It quoted MSF manager in Lithuania Georgina Brown as saying: “People on the move in Lithuania are entitled to dignified and humane treatment, including safety and international protection.”

Some migrants testified that Lithuanian and Belarusian border guards pushed them back and forth across the border for days or even weeks, according to the statement. “For 30 days, we didn’t settle in one place,” a mother said.

The organization says that migrants lack proper medical care. Many suffer from gastrointestinal illnesses, as they had to eat berries and plants and drink dirty water.

As winter approaches, MSF notes, doctors are concerned about even more serious consequences for migrants’ physical and mental health, because they would “continue to make desperate journeys to where they believe they can seek international protection, safety and a better future, regardless of the risks.”

To stop them, Lithuania in late August completed the construction of a barbed wire fence on the border with Belarus, which, according to the Lithuanians, Belarusian security officers have been trying to damage.

On September 9, Laurynas Kasčiūnas, who heads the national security committee in the Lithuanian parliament, said that without the pushback policy Lithuania wouldn’t have coped with the influx. Thousands would have entered the country, causing social tension and potentially unrest, he said.

The leadership of the Baltics and Poland blame the Belarusian authorities for the migration crisis.

Lithuanian Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė said that the Alaksandr Łukašenka regime has been using migrants as a form of hybrid attacks on Lithuania. According to her, Belarusian border guards organize the transportation of illegal migrants to the border, damage the fence and send them to Lithuania.