{"id":210454,"date":"2026-11-04T15:41:48","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T12:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/210454\/"},"modified":"2026-11-04T15:41:50","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T12:41:50","slug":"european-court-of-human-rights-to-rule-on-pushback-complaints-against-poland-latvia-and-lithuania","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/210454\/","title":{"rendered":"European Court of Human Rights to rule on pushback complaints against Poland, Latvia and Lithuania"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

November 4, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) will announce its decision on November 24 on three lawsuits filed by irregular migrants who crossed into neighboring European Union countries from Belarus in 2021 and 2022 but were pushed back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pushbacks \u2014 the practice of forcing migrants and asylum seekers back across borders without due process \u2014 are generally considered illegal under international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ruling will be delivered in Strasbourg by the Court\u2019s Grand Chamber, which consists of 17 judges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the ECtHR website, the first case, \u201cA.R. and Others v. Poland,\u201d concerns a group of Afghan nationals who allege that they were left stranded in a makeshift camp on the border between Belarus and Poland from August 8 until October 23, 2021. They eventually returned to Afghanistan, where they currently reside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cH.M.M. and Others v. Latvia\u201d concerns a group of Iraqi nationals of Kurdish origin, who allege, among other things, that they were \u201cpushed back\u201d in the vicinity of the Latvian-Belarusian border starting from August 11, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given that Belarusian authorities did not allow them to re-enter Belarus, the migrants said that they had found themselves in a forest in the border area. Some alleged that they had been repeatedly forcibly moved across the border, occasionally allowed to live in a tent in the Latvian territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The applicants were subsequently allowed into Latvia, where they were placed in a detention center for foreigners in Daugavpils. They were later deported to Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cC.O.C.G. and Others v. Lithuania\u201d concerns four Cuban nationals and their repeated crossing of the Lithuanian-Belarusian border in March and April 2022. They reportedly left their homeland in 2021, fearing for their safety after taking part in anti-government protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They travelled through Russia to Belarus and repeatedly attempted to enter Lithuania in late March and early April 2022. According to the applicants, Lithuanian border guards threatened them with firearms to force them back into the Belarusian territory, preventing them from applying for asylum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 8, the Cubans crossed the border again. That same day, the ECtHR issued interim measures ruling that they should not be removed from Lithuania, provided they remained in its territory. However, the following morning, border guards returned them to Belarus. Lithuanian authorities subsequently said they had been unable to verify the authenticity of the information concerning the court’s order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 13, the migrants entered Lithuania again, where they were arrested and placed in the Foreigners’ Registration Centre in Medininkai, without permission to leave its premises. All four were subsequently granted permanent residence permits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flow of people eager to cross into the EU surged in spring 2021 after Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka, angered by EU sanctions, had indicated that Minsk would not prevent asylum seekers from Africa and Asia from using Belarus as a route to the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 2021, the Belarusian government suspended a readmission agreement with the EU in response to sanctions that followed the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latvia, Lithuania and Poland call the migration crisis a \u201chybrid attack\u201d orchestrated by Minsk and Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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