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Belarus–European Union border crisis

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Lithuania - Migrant Influx

Border markers with a fence on the Lithuanian side.

The 2021 Belarus–European Union border crisis is a migrant crisis manifested in a massive influx of Middle Eastern and African migrants (mainly from Iraq) to Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland via those countries' borders with Belarus. The crisis was triggered by the severe deterioration in Belarus–European Union relations, following the 2020 Belarusian presidential election, the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests, the Ryanair Flight 4978 incident, and the attempted repatriation of Krystsina Tsimanouskaya.

The three EU nations have described the crisis as hybrid warfare by human trafficking of migrants, waged by Belarus against the European Union, and called on Brussels to intervene.[1][2]

Background

Main articles: 2020 Belarusian presidential election, 2020–2021 Belarusian protests, and Ryanair Flight 4978
Lithuania-Belarus border in 2008

President Alexander Lukashenko has ruled Belarus since it became independent in 1994; he won re-election in the 2020 Belarusian presidential election, though was widely accused of electoral fraud.[3][4] Numerous countries refused to accept the result of the election, as did the European Union, which imposed sanctions on Belarusian officials deemed to be responsible for "violence, repression and election fraud".[5] The results of the election also led to widespread protests in Belarus.

After the election, the primary opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya chose to flee to Lithuania in fear of repercussions, which could have possibly affected her children.[6] On 11 August, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius announced that Tsikhanouskaya was "safe" in Lithuania while also acknowledging that she had "few options".[7]

On 23 May 2021, Ryanair Flight 4978 was intercepted while in Belarusian airspace and forced to land to Minsk National Airport where two of its passengers, opposition activist and journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, were arrested by authorities. Following the incident, the United States, European Union, United Kingdom and Canada issued a joint statement on 21 June announcing further sanctions against members and supporters of the Belarusian government as well as Belarusian state-owned companies. These included individual travel bans, asset freezes and other sanctions.[8] The European Union also banned Belarusian carriers from flying into EU airspace and imposed economic sanctions on Belarus.[9]

At the 2020 Summer Olympics in July and August 2021, Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya criticized national coaches, who then tried to force her back to Belarus; she sought help at the airport and is seeking asylum in Poland.[2][10]

In Lithuania

Lithuanian and the European Union officials claimed that the illegal migration was weaponized by Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko because of the international sanctions against Belarus which were imposed due to election fraud,[3][4] oppression of protests and forceful landing of Ryanair Flight 4978.[11][1] The move is purportedly seen as a response to the harsh sanctions the EU imposed on Belarus.[1][12][13] In June 2021, Lukashenko threatened to allow the human traffickers and drug smugglers to Europe.[11] Later Lukashenko talked about the possible emergence of armed migrants which was perceived by the Lithuanian officials to be a threat.[14]

The Belarus–Lithuania border is described as poorly protected, often with low wooden fences or small ditches.[15] Lithuania didn't have necessary infrastructure to accommodate large numbers of migrants.[16]

Events

Illegal migrants crossing
the Belarus—Lithuania border
Year Number
2015 280[17]
2017 72
2018 104
2019 46
2020 81[18]
2021 (by 7 August)[19] 4112

In the years preceding the crisis, the number of illegal migrants crossing to Lithuania via Belarus averaged around 70.[11] However, in June 2021 the number of illegal migrants detained rose to around 470.[11] Lithuanian officials claimed that Belarusian authorities were encouraging illegal migration from Iraq and Syria to Lithuania by organizing groups of refugees and helping them to cross the Belarusian-Lithuanian border.[20][13] European officials blamed Belarusian travel agencies for helping illegal migrants.[11][13] The majority of migrants were from Iraq, but citizens of other Middle Eastern and African countries were also among them.[11] Their final destination is usually not Lithuania, but Germany.[15] On 28 June, Belarus unilaterally withdrew from its readmission agreement with the EU.[17]

In July 2021, the number of illegal migrants in Lithuania rose to around 2600.[11]

The Belarusian representative in OSCE criticized European officials for politicizing the problem and not cooperating with Belarus.[11]

Key features of human trafficking

Ethnic and religious minorities from Iraq (Kurds and Yazidis) are the most frequent category of illegal migrants.[21][11] According to the CBC investigation, Iraqis consciously used tensions between Belarus and Lithuania to sneak to the European Union.[22] It was reported that Iraqi TV repeatedly broadcast statements of Lukashenko about green light for illegal migration to the EU.[14][23] News about Belarus–EU tensions were discussed widely in Iraq.[22] Equally high attention to the news related to possible migration to the EU was also reported in Syria.[14] It was also reported that Belarusian authorities spread the fake news to attract migrants and use them against the EU.[16]

It was reported that Iraqi travel agencies were organizing "tourist trips" to Belarus.[17] According to reform.by investigation, in 2021 tourist agencies in Iraq reduced prices for tours to Belarus making them more affordable, and number of planes to Minsk was increased.[14] Belarusian ravel agencies were also active in promoting "tours" to Belarus from Iraq.[16] Iraqi Airways made 4 flights from Baghdad to Minsk in a week.[17] On 2 August, it was announced that 3 new destinations to Minsk were opened from the Iraqi cities of Basra, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah.[24] As a result, tours to Belarus was considered to be one of the easiest and safest ways to get to the EU.[14]

According to the investigation of Lithuanian state media LRT, Iraqi Kurds, claimed that they were told that entering the European Union via Belarus is legal. After a few days in Belarusian hotels migrants were collected, taken to the border and instructed to proceed on foot, believing that a car would be waiting for them in Lithuania. It was reported that they paid up to €15,000 for travel and tourist visas as well as US$3,000–4,000 deposit.[21] According to the investigation of Belarusian news server reform.by, people from the Middle East believe that they should destroy their passport in order to avoid deportation from the EU.[14] Belsat TV journalists found groups in social networks and Telegram groups which provide help and advice for those who cross the Belarus–Lithuania border. Videos of people crossing fences on the Lithuanian side were published there.[25] Migrants repeatedly used a legend story that they are students from Belarusian universities.[14][26][27] Journalist of Komsomolskaya Pravda noted that a flight from Baghdad to Minsk carried circa 180 people, but plane in the opposite direction carried only 5 people.[28]

Involvement of Belarusian authorities was unclear during first weeks of the crisis, but it became obvious after several published videos with Belarusian border guards assisting migrants and preventing them from returning to Belarus. In July, anonymous sources among Belarusian border guards claimed that their bosses had started to encourage cigarette smuggling via checkpoints and to encourage gaps in border cover.[14] Another border guard told reform.by about receiving a verbal order to turn a blind eye to illegal migrants.[14] It was also reported that Belarusian border guards stopped communicating with Lithuanian colleagues.[15] Lithuanian border guards claimed to have visual proofs representing assistance of human traffickers from the Belarusian side: for example, warning them of Lithuanian patrols approaching and indicating which direction to run.[15] On 3 August, Lithuanian authorities published footage made by a Frontex helicopter with a group of migrants and a special vehicle used by Belarusian Border Committee visible.[29]

Belarusian state-owned Tsentrkurort travel agency (Template:Lang-ru; subordinated to the presidential administration of Belarus) is named among the organizations directly responsible for human trafficking.[14] On 13 August, Russian Dossier and German Spiegel published an investigation based on leaked documents of Tsentrkurort. According to this investigation, Tsentrkurort made business with different travel agencies, helped to make visas for hundreds of Iraqi citizens with a "hunting tour" as a legal justification of the tour. The company also organized the transfer of people from the airport to hotels in Minsk. Oskartur travel agency (Template:Lang-ru) was named another major involved party in this particular scheme.[30][31]

Illegal migrants in Lithuania by
nationality, 2021 (as of 7 August 2021)
Nationality Number
Iraq 2,797
Republic of the Congo 200
Cameroon 131
Syria 130
Iran 91
Russia 91
Afghanistan 83
Other 589
Total 4,112
Source: Department of Statistics (Lithuania)[19]

Incidents

  • On 23 June 2021, migrants rioted in a camp in Pabrade and tear gas was used to suppress riots.[32]
  • On 23 July 2021, two children who illegally crossed the border with their families were hospitalized in Lithuania after Belarusian human traffickers gave them unknown pills (presumably psychotropic substances) to calm them down.[33]
  • On 26 July, migrants demanded to leave the camp, 16 migrants were detained.[17]
Uniform and equipment of Belarusian military men on a video published on 5 August resemble Internal Troops of Belarus (photo made during 2020 protests in Minsk)
  • On 5 August, Belarusian officials, wearing uniforms, riot shields and helmets, were recorded on camera near the Belarus–Lithuania border pushing and urging the migrants to cross the European Union border.[34]
  • On the night from 5 August to 6 August, Lithuanian officials reported that they saw Belarusian officials using signal flares and heard shooting of live ammunition from assault rifles into the air from the Belarusian side.[35]
  • On 7 August, Iraq announced that it is stopping all flights from Iraq to Minsk, except for empty planes which will return Iraqis from Belarus.[36]
  • On 18 August, Lithuania claimed that 12 Belarusian officers in riot gear illegally crossed into the Lithuanian territory while pushing a group of migrants.[37] Lithuanian State Border Guard Service published a video of the event.[38]

Lithuanian response

Illegal migration from Belarus forced Lithuania to declare a state of emergency on 7 July 2021.[39] Lithuania had no experience in dealing with large numbers of illegal migrants and a lack of places to accommodate them.[11] Tent camps which the Lithuanian officials described as "not comfortable" were built to accommodate migrants.[11] On 23 July 2021, Lithuanian authorities published a plan to build a container camp near Švenčionėliai for 40,000 migrants in the worst case scenario.[40]

In early July, Lithuania announced a plan to build a border barrier to stem the flow of illegal crossings.[41] On 24 July 2021, Estonia sent 100 km of barbed wire to help Lithuania to build the border barrier and three drones for the Lithuanian border guards.[42] Non-EU member Ukraine also announced that they would supply Lithuania with barbed wire.[43] Meanwhile, by the end of July, EU Frontex deployed 100 officers, 30 patrol cars and 2 helicopters to support Lithuania.[44] Poland provided another helicopter.[45]

In July, the Lithuanian Seimas passed a law (signed by president Gitanas Nausėda on 21 July) making deportation of illegal migrants from Lithuania easier.[46] Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis travelled to Baghdad to discuss the problem with the Iraqi authorities. During the trip, he requested the Iraqi government to halt the flights to Belarus.[22]

On 2 August, the Lithuanian government empowered border guards to expel migrants found near the border. The new powers were employed for the first time on 3 August, when several dozen migrants discovered by Lithuanian border guards were directed back to Belarus.[47]

As of 1 August 2021, none of the 230 asylum applications had been approved in Lithuania.[11] Public opinion in Lithuania opposes illegal migration and xenophobic sentiment is reported to have spread.[15] In July 2021, residents of Dieveniškės protested against proposed construction of a new camp in their region.[48] On 26 or 27 July, locals tried to block a road to the area near Rūdininkai where a migrant camp was to be placed.[49][17]

On 5 August 2021, the chief of the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service presented a project of the proposed barrier for the entire Belarus-Lithuania border which would be 4 m (13 ft) high and would use multiple layers of the Concertina wire.[50] The cost of the project is estimated at €150 million and the Lithuanian parliament is set to consider it as a matter of urgency.

Lithuanian officials said than on 7-8 August 2021 the number of migrants crossing into the country dropped to zero, after Lithuania sent reinforcements to the border area and began broadcasting warning messages in Arabic, Kurdish, French, Russian and English on loudspeakers.[51]

In Poland

Belarus–Poland border

On 12 July 2021, Polish President Andrzej Duda has stated that Poland will provide assistance to Lithuania.[52] In July 2021, Poland sent a humanitarian aid to Lithuania.[53] Following the granting of humanitarian visas to an Olympic athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya and her husband, Poland also accused Belarus of organizing a hybrid warfare as the number of migrants crossing the Belarus–Poland border sharply increased multiple times when compared to the 2020 statistics.[54][55]

As Belarus-Poland relations deteriorated further, migrants in Belarus began to be filtered into Poland.[56] On 6 August 2021, Poland reported 133 illegal crossings from Belarus over two days, which is more than the total number in the previous year,[57] with the total number of illegal crossings to date being 552.[58] On 9 August, Poland reported an additional 349 migrant arrivals over the weekend.[56]

Incidents

Polish response

Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia released a joint statement, condemning the hybrid warfare of sending migrants over the borders.[61] Since 18 August, 2021, Polish Armed Forces were sent to secure border with Belarus.[62]

As a response to the migrant crisis, Poland is building an anti-refugee wall in its border with Belarus.[63][64]

In Latvia

Illegal migrants numbers also exceeded the previous annual numbers in Latvia.[65]

On 13 August 2021, news portal of the Latvian Armed Forces sargs.lv published a video showing 3 cases of armed Belarusian border guards trying to expel migrants to Latvia and not let them return to Belarus.[66][67][68] Similar reports about Belarusian border guards who pushed out migrants from Belarus to Latvia appeared later.[69]

Government of Latvia declared state of emergency from 11 August until 10 November in border counties of Ludza, Kraslava and Augsdaugava, and also in Daugavpils city.[68][70] The government prohibited to submit applications for refugee status in these border regions, and all migrants captured there had to return to Belarus.[71] President of Latvia Egils Levits said that migrants can seek asylum in Belarus.[72]

Other responses

European Union

Top officials of the European Union Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and Josep Borrell, Vice-President of the European Commission, condemned the usage of migrants as a weapon and suggested that Belarus could be subject to further sanctions.[12] On 29 July, Home Affairs Commissioner, Ylva Johansson, announced that the EU was pressing Iraq to suspend migrant flights between Iraq and Belarus. Iraq had previously promised to establish a joint commission with the EU to address the issue.[73]

Estonia

In July 2021, Estonia condemned the human trafficking organized by Belarusian authorities and sent its border patrols, tents to boost the protection of the Belarus–Lithuania border.[74][75][76] On 6 August 2021, Estonia announced that it will raise the question of migrant crisis at the United Nations Security Council.[77]

Human rights issues

It was reported that legal status of migrants became more vulnerable after Belarus unilaterally withdrew from the readmission agreement with the EU.[14] It was noted that up to 40% of migrants in Lithuanian camps belong to vulnerable groups.[22] EU leaders, on the other hand, have supported the Lithuanian government in its efforts.[12]

On 4 August 2021, Belarusian border guards claimed that they found an Iraqi man in "serious" condition in Benyakoni, near the border with Lithuania. The unidentified man allegedly "died in the arms of the [Lithuanian] border guards". Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko ordered an investigation into his death.[78] The Lithuanian Interior ministry dismissed the Belarusian reports that the Iraqi migrant had been found beaten to death after being turned away at the Lithuanian border, describing it as part of a hybrid war and disinformation being waged by Belarus.[79]

See also

References

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  3. ^ a b Jones, Mark P. (2018). Herron, Erik S; Pekkanen, Robert J; Shugart, Matthew S (eds.). "Presidential and Legislative Elections". The Oxford Handbook of Electoral Systems. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190258658.001.0001. ISBN 9780190258658. Retrieved 21 May 2020. unanimous agreement among serious scholars that... Lukashenko's 2015 election occurred within an authoritarian context.
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  28. ^ Как я искал мигрантов, пробирающихся из Белоруссии в Евросоюз
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  30. ^ Минск мстит Европе с помощью беженцев из Ирака: К миграционному кризису в Литве причастна белорусская госкомпания
  31. ^ Wie Belarus zum Sprungbrett für Geflüchtete wurde
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  66. ^ Ekskluzīvi kadri: Baltkrievijas varas iestādes spiež migrantus pāri Latvijas robežai
  67. ^ ВИДЕО: белорусские пограничники с оружием в руках гонят мигрантов к границе с Латвией
  68. ^ a b Video footage taken by Latvian border guards show participation of Belarusian militarized units in trafficking of migrants to the border with Latvia
  69. ^ Латвия не впустила 395 мигрантов
  70. ^ Латвия вводит чрезвычайное положение на границе с Беларусью - из-за наплыва мигрантов
  71. ^ Латвия заняла исходные позиции
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