Lithuanian migrant crisis enters new phase as influx ceases

Lithuanian officials say a recent influx of thousands of migrants from neighboring Belarus appears to have stopped

VILNIUS, Lithuania -- An influx of migrants from Iraq and elsewhere into Lithuania allegedly abetted by neighboring Belarus appears to have stopped, but with a pile of asylum applications to process and local communities angry about nearby migrant camps, the Lithuanian government faces an unfamiliar challenge. The U.N. refugee agency's representative for the Baltic region said Friday that while the “emergency phase” of the mass arrivals seems to be over, Lithuania must now focus on the wellbeing of the people held in immigration detention centers and on assessing their claims for international protection. So far this year, more than 4,000 asylum-seekers from 40 countries, most of them Iraqi, have illegally crossed from Belarus into Lithuania. That’s 50 times more than during all of 2020. UNHCR Representative Henrik M. Nordentoft said the influx was a “completely unique situation” for Lithuania, a European Union member with a population just under 3 million.