According to Agne Bilotaite, Minsk sends migrants to the border barefoot. Belarusian authorities are encouraging migrants to try to cross the border barefoot in cold weather, putting pressure on border guards to let them in, Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite said in Vilnius on Wednesday.
According to the head of the ministry, small tent camps have been established on the Belarusian side to accommodate migrants who wish to cross the Lithuanian border illegally. He added: Lithuania still does not allow them to cross the border, but they receive an aid package consisting of food, clothes and shoes from the border guard.
Even if people arrive at the border barefoot, we will not let them in"
Bilotaite stated.
Nine migrants already had to be transported to a medical facility
Rimantas Petrauskas, the deputy commander of the Lithuanian border guard, said that nine migrants had to be transported to a medical facility. However, there are many more people who arrive at the border in clothing that is not appropriate for the weather and try to cross into Lithuania, the BNS Baltic news agency quoted the official as saying. According to official data, since January
more than ten thousand migrants were arrested at the Belarusian-Lithuanian border.
The Lithuanian Minister of the Interior emphasized that he hopes that international organizations will also pay attention to the situation, which he has already reported to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Red Cross.
(MTI)
Featured image: PETRAS MALUKAS / AFP
