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This was discussed in the news issue “News of the Day”.
Alvydas Verbickas, director of the Varėna district municipal administration, said that the anxiety of his district residents for the settled migrants has subsided. According to the interlocutor, the leaders of the migrant group have two men with them.
“It just came to our knowledge then. It was strange to us too. As SBGS officials found out, at least they identified themselves by studying in the Republic of Belarus for several years, and the regime forced them to come here. They speak Russian,” A said. Verbickas.
Beatričė Bernotienė, director of the Rukla Refugee Reception Center, noted that the migrants themselves are often upset.
“They were probably sent or brought in on purpose through Belarus. Often people do not understand how they got here or how they got here. The people who are speaking are afraid to talk about how they got here,” said B. Bernotienė.
According to the interlocutor of the program, the country of destination of a large part of the migrants is not Lithuania.
“I think they will not stay in Lithuania. However, there is hostility, (…) people are often afraid of what they do not know. I can assure you that our residents are calm enough. People with families are housed, people are vulnerable enough, these people need help ”, said B. Bernotienė.
The director of the Rukla Refugee Reception Center emphasized that those people are not to blame for being here, someone has worked to bring them here.
“The first thing is that we have to help these people not to stay on the street, to give them shelter, to feed themselves. After that, the Migration Department decides how the fate of the people living in Lithuania will be determined, ”said B. Bernotienė.
According to the interlocutor of the program, those who want to stay in Lithuania are making efforts to adapt.
“We have 25 years of work experience. The center housed more than five thousand refugees. Of course, they did not stay in Lithuania. People who stay in Lithuania try to learn the Lithuanian language, they want to find a job, learn a profession and supplement our community, ”said B. Bernotienė.
Angry with the municipality that made the decision without consulting
71 migrants were housed in the building located on the territory of the Alytus airport over the weekend. Dalius Sinkevičius, manager of the Alytus airfield, said it was a surprise to him that the migrants were housed there.
“It just came to our knowledge then. We found out early in the morning, when at first the premises near the progymnasium of the Alytus mound were inspected. The community responded immediately. Subsequently, the Alytus Aeroclub facilities were inspected. We received that decision only from 2 pm, “said D. Sinkevičius.
According to the interlocutor, the building, which houses the migrants, is two-story with an attic, up to several hundred square meters.
“It just came to our attention then. It was an administrative classroom that previously housed the instructors’ offices, and beds were set up in the attic for a children’s camp. There were really no showers and no living conditions there,” said D. Sinkevičius.
The man said there are only three bathrooms in that building, there is no hot water, the roof is hollow.
“We heard that (the refugees are there), only ten days due to the quarantine, then they will be deported. But nobody says there will be no new ones. (…) As the municipality did not even listen to us, what is wrong there, then they all emerged those problems: pipes, sewers, lack of showers, ”said D. Sinkevičius.
The aerodrome manager said they no longer knew if he would take the building back.
“Because of this, there are doubts that it will be only ten days,” said D. Sinkevičius.
The interviewee said that the building that housed the migrants was surrounded by a masonry fence.
“I immediately saw that this is too small an area for so many people. They were crowded. Then the decision was made to expand the area. They expanded the territory and built basketball hoops so they could spend their free time, ”said D. Sinkevičius.
The interviewee said that it would be unfair to himself if he said that he is not concerned about safety.
“All the more because we receive calls and communities. Call me somehow and ask what the situation is. You are also trying to call members of the Seimas.
Four police teams are on duty every day, but in terms of security, knowing the real experience, we have no guarantee and there is fear, ”said D. Sinkevičius.
Municipalities have questions
Ausma Miškinienė, Vice President of the Association of Municipalities of Lithuania, said that the situation is getting more complicated every day.
“The most important issues were identified in the enlarged meeting of the Board of the Association of Municipalities of Lithuania: firstly, the safety of the population. For me, as the head of the Lazdijai district, and for all heads of municipalities, the priority is the safety of the inhabitants of our districts and cities. We hear, speaking out loud to residents, (…) that residents feel unsafe, ”said A. Miškinienė.
According to the interlocutors of the program, there is a compensation mechanism for the municipalities that are already contributing and will contribute to the management of this migratory crisis.
“It’s like, who, when, at what cost will it cover the costs incurred by the municipalities in managing this crisis. Because costs are already being incurred and will be incurred in the future, there are still no clear financing mechanisms, ”said A. Miškinienė.
According to her, forecasts and preparation for the future are also very important.
“To this day, in communication with the municipality, it is said that it is very important to place illegal migrants in certain locations during the ten-day quarantine period. However, naturally questions arise about where they will be taken out in ten days, who will take them out, or really, only ten days, ”said A. Miškinienė.
According to the program participant, residents of the Lazdijai district feel unsafe.
“Residents know that there are 71 illegal border residents in a certain city. Residents also identify that in the forests, on the border, when they pick mushrooms and berries, they see people who are potentially illegal migrants,” said A. Miškinienė.
He refused to drink tap water.
Alvydas Verbickas, director of the Varėna district municipal administration, said that the anxiety of his district residents for the settled migrants has subsided.
But the anxiety was really justified. (…) We answered all the questions posed. The municipality made a decision for the residents in an unexpected way, because we did not have the opportunity to discuss what we usually do on a regular basis, ”said A. Verbickas.
The administration director said they could not accept more than 160 migrants in the district due to lack of facilities unless they were forced to.
“The main problem for the population is security. Please understand that, to this day, we have a larger population in Mali, the state of Somalia. These are black, and it is unusual for us to see such people somewhere, even from afar. The question is whether they will be able to go to the store or to another place. We answered those questions that they don’t have that opportunity, and they are protected by the police, ”said A. Verbickas.
According to the municipal representative, 158 people are currently temporarily housed in his municipality.
“We have given part of the school facilities. We have not used all the facilities, but we also do not have the opportunity to use them, because it would require a lot of investment to adapt,” said A. Verbickas.
To accommodate the migrants, the municipality installed showers in the school, separate for men and women, with water supply because they do not drink tap water. The municipality is assisted by the Neptūnas company.
“There is no drinking water from the tap in their state. We try to convince. Several of their leaders have been identified, just not. It was decided to supply them with water. That is what we do,” said A. Verbickas.
The municipality has already found a solution to enclose the area.
“The population will calm down and there will be protection for officials,” Verbick said.
According to the interlocutor, these migrant leaders have two men with them.
“It just came to our knowledge then. It was strange to us too. As SBGS officials found out, at least they identified themselves by studying in the Republic of Belarus for several years, and the regime forced them to come here. They speak Russian,” A said. Verbickas.
Migrants are said to be benevolent
According to a municipal spokesperson, the migrants they met are benevolent.
“39 are women and the rest are men between 18 and 32 years old. We cannot determine exactly yet,” said A. Verbickas.
The director of the municipal administration said that he had not heard special demands from the migrants.
“Part of them demanded clothes because when they crossed the wall, it tore (the clothes). Several demanded medical first aid. They all needed hygiene measures. The Red Cross helped us deliver all of this, “said A. Verbickas.
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