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D. Šakalienė: the absence of a physical barrier is unjustifiable, we are now reacting in fire conditions
The Social Democrat D. Šakalienė, a member of the Seimas, points out that Lithuania was not prepared for the influx of illegal immigrants it faces today, so according to her, the decision to strengthen border protection with Belarus was inevitable.
“Since we were basically unprepared for such a situation, to turn migratory flows into a tool of political pressure or even a hybrid attack, it was obviously unavoidable. Since the last mandate as Committee of National Security and Defense, we have asked the Government four times to urgently complete the implementation of the border control systems, the electronic system still covers less than half of the border ”, said D. Šakalienė to Eltai .
Nor is the lack of a physical barrier justified with an unpredictable dictator on the other side of the border. So now we are responding to the fire ”, added the politician.
She is convinced that the decision to strengthen border security is a consequence of the lack of timely decisions on the construction of electronic monitoring systems and a physical barrier.
“Two other solutions were delayed: the installation of electronic border surveillance systems and the construction of a physical barrier.” This decision is a partial consequence of the first two. And yet, in the first place, it is a consequence of Mr. Lukashenko’s crimes, which can open the eyes of those who want to negotiate or negotiate with him. A dictator who throws more and more people into the political meat grinder cannot be part of the negotiations, ”said D. Šakalienė.
The Seimas member acknowledges that current temporary protection measures restrict the rights of migrants to request asylum. However, according to her, there is no other option in this situation.
“It is fair to say with bitten teeth that, as a state, we must now apply temporary protection measures that restrict the rights of migrants to request asylum, leaving only the possibility of doing so at border checkpoints. On the other hand, I am very hopeful that protecting this EU external border will actually become a national and EU priority and that we will take additional action, such as talking to the NSGC on Friday about changing procedures, although it will. I asked. A few weeks ago political.
D. Šakalienė also draws attention to risks related to human rights. However, according to politicians, there are not many options in this situation.
“We are indeed in a vulnerable position due to human rights abuses, but an open border policy would only help the Lukashenko regime further mislead and rob economic migrants seeking a ‘ticket to the EU’ and further hamper opportunities for actual refugees by drowning, especially in abbreviated terms, ”he said.
A. Širinskienė – the decision came late, it was possible to do it a long time ago
In turn, the “peasant” A. Širinskienė claims that the decision to strengthen the protection of the border with Belarus had to be taken a long time ago.
“It just came to our attention then. Such a solution could have really been introduced, a long time ago, without intimidating people with a state of emergency or other means. And it’s a shame after seeing that those illegal flows are increasing Only now has it been decided to apply such a measure, ”A. Širinskienė told Eltai.
“Well sometimes it’s better late than never,” he added.
When asked if they would agree with the idea of the chairman of the Seimas Human Rights Committee, Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius, that Lithuania walks on “very thin ice” in applying the practice of reversing illegal immigrants, the politician partially agreed with emerging risks.
However, according to her, this migration crisis that Lithuania is facing is significantly different from the ones that European countries have had to face up to now. Therefore, according to A. Širinskienė, sooner or later it will be necessary to decide whether such situations do not require separate regulation.
“And during quarantine, when human rights are violated, you always walk on thin ice. But in this case, I see that these migratory flows are very different from those that the international community has had in principle since the post-war years, when we had migrants fleeing the Soviet army, since the German occupation, ”the politician emphasized.
“It just came to our attention then. And on the other hand, those people are organized to cross the Lithuanian border during a hybrid attack. This is not a very common situation in refugee law, as we are used to seeing. And I suppose that, however, the European Union or the Council of Europe sooner or later will have the question of how to deal with such situations, if they don’t even need separate regulation, ”he emphasized.
Therefore, A. Širinskeinė considers that the decision taken by the Government to reinforce border protection is proportionate to the existing conditions.
“I think yes, in this case the decision is sufficiently proportionate, people can cross the Lithuanian border where it is legally possible to do so.” No one restricts refugee applications there, theoretically a thousand people can apply through the crossing points, ”said A. Širinskienė.
“It is really not possible to compare this situation with, say, Hungary, where once the state, incidentally, was punished in the Court of Justice, it said that only ten people could pass at a time a day. Lithuania really did not applies such restrictions, there is simply the requirement to go to the border crossings and properly notify about the request for refugee status, “he added.
ELTA recalls that the head of the State Border Guard Service (SBGS), Rustamas Liubajev, announced on Tuesday that on Monday, after the Government’s decision to allow border guards to deny entry to illegal immigrants from 3 August , some 180 immigrants had already been denied entry to Lithuania.
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