NGOs Call for Review of Migrant Pushbacks at Belarus Border
Human rights organizations from Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland urge their governments to review migrant pushback practices following the entry into force of the EU Migration and Asylum Pact.
Human rights organizations from Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland issued a joint statement on Friday calling on the governments bordering Belarus to review their migrant pushback practices. The statement was released by Lithuania's Sienos Grupė, Latvia's Gribu palīdzēt bēgļiem, and Poland's Stowarzyszenie Interwencji Prawnej.
The groups emphasized that migration policy cannot be based on fear or short-term political considerations, but must be rooted in human rights, human dignity, and the rule of law. They argued that even under the exceptional circumstances covered by the EU's crisis and force majeure regulation, member states remain bound by fundamental human rights obligations.
According to the organizations, collective expulsions carried out without individual assessments or access to asylum procedures are prohibited under EU law. Current pushback practices in all three countries raise questions about their compatibility with that framework.
The statement also noted that detention during migration procedures should be a last resort, used only after individual circumstances have been assessed and alternatives considered. Unaccompanied minors should be immediately assigned a legal representative and should not be detained. The groups called for effective legal aid in all migration procedures and the right to work for individuals who cannot be returned to their country of origin but have not been granted protection.
The call comes days after the Lithuanian government approved legislative amendments to transpose the EU pact into national law, though the changes still require parliamentary approval. Under the EU solidarity mechanism, Lithuania plans to accept 58 migrants from Cyprus and contribute €1.14 million to the scheme.
Lithuania has applied pushback practices at its border with Belarus since 2021, when a surge in migrant crossings, widely attributed to a deliberate policy by the Belarusian government, prompted a state of emergency. The practice was enshrined in law in 2023.
