The former president of the CC evaluated the decisions of the Seimas regarding migrants: he had never seen such an obvious violation of the Constitution.

According to the BNS news agency, asylum seekers will not be granted the right to move freely on the territory of Lithuania after an illegal border crossing until a decision to admit them to Lithuania has been made.

Amendments to the law passed by the Seimas on Tuesday establish that an asylum seeker can be detained or his right to leave the place of accommodation if he entered the territory of Lithuania by illegally crossing the Lithuanian border in a state of war, emergency, emergency or massive influx of emergency. During the hearing, this period was limited to six months.

In order to speed up the final decision on asylum applications and reduce the workload of the courts, a mandatory pre-trial procedure for appeals against negative decisions has been established in the Migration Department, should such be filed. appeal.

Seimas president Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen told LRT Radio on Wednesday that the situation forces him to make difficult decisions, but that they will be subject to constant parliamentary scrutiny.

Earlier, on the Delfi television program “Facts and Opinions”, V. Čmilytė-Nielsen stated that comments made by various human rights organizations were taken into account when making decisions.

“I have really seen the concerns of various human rights institutions and organizations about the decisions and about the situation in general. We hear that concern. “Some provisions of the law have been adjusted in the Seimas and I believe that the parliament will also ensure that fundamental human rights are guaranteed,” he said.

Greening: it would be difficult to find a more obvious contradiction with the Constitution

The former president of the Constitutional Court (CC) Dainius Žalimas affirms that the content of some provisions adopted by the Seimas is evidently unconstitutional.

“It just came to our attention then. First, detention for up to 6 months without individual court decisions, anyway, I stress, without declaring a state of emergency. The second is deprivation of the right of appeal. It would probably be very difficult to find. a more obvious contradiction with the Constitution. The CC has said very clearly about 5 times that there must be at least two judicial instances “, said D. Žalimas.

“I have never seen such an obvious violation of the Constitution and I don’t think these are the measures that will solve anything. “We will probably have more than one case not only in the country, but also in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) precisely for those violations, I don’t know who should do it,” he added.

D. Žalimas pointed out that the majority of independent lawyers had warned that many provisions were unconstitutional and restricted the rights of asylum seekers to basic assistance.

“Practically what we are doing now is classifying people, letting them know that these people are second class. I am no longer talking about looking at a person in general as an object, a weapon. I understand that some of them are seduced, deceived, but still nothing can be deprived of the right to be treated as a human being, applying all constitutional guarantees ”, said the former president of the CC.

According to Laurynas Kasčiūnas, chairman of the Seimas National Security and Defense Committee (NSGC), strict measures are needed to achieve the goal of blocking the path of illegal migration.

“If there was no possibility of arrest, what do we say? Get out of the malls and drive to Western Europe? It means opening a transit route for migrants. What can we tell our partners? ”- class L. Kasčiūnas.

“In the current situation, this right to asylum can be constantly appealed and manipulated. Constantly complain, lengthen the processes when it is already obvious that you are not a political refugee,” he explained.

Comments were also received from non-governmental organizations

Eglė Samuchovaitė, program director for the Lithuanian Red Cross, told the program that non-governmental organizations also help migrants who have crossed the Lithuanian border illegally into Lithuania. They also provided comments and suggestions to authorities on the way forward.

“We wanted to point out that after all these concepts are the people and their stories. My colleagues went to a border school where families are quarantined and I can list the health problems the children have come with. We have a 3-year-old boy with a gastrostomy-fed heart defect, a 9-year-old boy with progressive muscular dystrophy, a 12-year-old girl with muscular dystrophy, and a 15-year-old girl with diabetes. “Said the spokeswoman for the Red Cross.

“Those vulnerable people really shouldn’t find themselves in situations where de facto they were detained without sufficient assistance, because even now assistance was not provided without non-governmental organizations until the amendments to the laws were approved, “he said.

E. Samuchovaitė states that in some places where migrants are staying, unsanitary conditions are notorious, there are not enough bathrooms, toilets, lack of basic hygiene products, additional food, especially for children and pregnant women.

According to the Red Cross, in June, children and women account for 63 percent of arrivals.

Ušackas: if the crisis continues, Lithuania may have to talk to Minsk

Former diplomat ambassador Vygaudas Ušackas says that it is obvious that the illegal migration process stimulates not only Minsk, but also individual criminal groups, but, according to V. Ušackas, people also migrate due to hunger, war, the hope of asylum, as well as economic interests.

He says he hopes both the Seimas and the president will take into account the concerns expressed by human rights organizations when making decisions.

“International law, the law of the European Union (EU) regulates these issues very strictly, therefore, Lithuania’s response must be understood that by making one or another decision, the message is sent not only to Minsk or those groups that organize illegal shipments, but also to the same people, the international community “, emphasized V. Ušackas.

According to him, in current relations with Belarus, it may be difficult for Lithuania to resolve the migration crisis.

Belarus is a key player. If we remember the influx of migrants to Greece, which continues to this day, the most important political actors were Turkey, Iraq and other countries such as Afghanistan. [Išspręsti krizę] assisted by Turkey, an intermediate country. I would not be surprised if, if the crisis continues, Lithuania has to speak to Minsk to [jis] would help to solve this crisis “, – said V. Ušackas.

However, in the opinion of L. Kasčiūnas, Lithuania should not take such a step, as it would help the Belarusian regime to achieve its objectives.

“You are creating problems for a neighboring country, waiting for it to change its foreign policy, to abandon its principles, to become dependent on you, not to be independent. I am not sure if this is the way Lithuania abandons the principles and values, ”said the president of the Seimas NSGK on Delfi’s TV program“ Facts and Opinions ”.