The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is in contact with the Lithuanian government over the unprecedented surge in unauthorized migrants arriving in the Baltic nation from Belarus, an agency representative told Sputnik on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th July, 2021) The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is in contact with the Lithuanian government over the unprecedented surge in unauthorized migrants arriving in the Baltic nation from Belarus, an agency representative told Sputnik on Tuesday.
"We have been in a continued dialogue with the Lithuanian authorities on different levels to discuss current challenges and offer support," the representative said.
The Lithuanian government is responding quickly to the situation and is working to ensure that arrivals have their basic humanitarian needs met, the UNHCR representative added.
Since the start of the year, more than 1,600 unauthorized migrants have entered Lithuania from Belarus, a 22-fold increase compared to the number registered in the whole of 2020, Ylva Johansson, the European commissioner for home affairs, said at a European Parliament committee meeting on Monday.
Lithuanian politicians and several leading European Union officials have accused the Belarusian government of facilitating the movement of migrants across the border with Lithuania as retaliation for the European Union's decision to impose political and economic sanctions on Minsk.
Speaking on Monday, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis accused Belarus of using migrants as a "political weapon" and expressed his hope that the EU would provide greater support to stem the flow of migrants.
Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, also said on Monday that the bloc may strengthen sanctions against Belarus following the latest developments.
The EU's border guard agency Frontex has announced that it will double staffing levels on the Lithuania-Belarus border as part of efforts to respond to the surge in unauthorized migration.
