Illegal immigrants in Rūdininkai kept asking where the doctor was – they did it so there would be no more complaints

At the moment, the situation here is much calmer than some time ago. According to Renaldas Žekonis, the administrator of the Rūdninkai camp, this is due to the fact that the most important things were finally accomplished: warm water, food and medical equipment. Currently, about 700 people live in the Rūdninkai landfill, a temporary tent town set up in the woods. They are all men.

As soon as you enter several tents, the inscriptions in Lithuanian, English and French are clearly visible. One of them says “Thank you to Lithuania for accepting us.” And here’s another one: “Sorry, we crossed your territory illegally.”

Migrants cannot leave a small fenced area behind. All life boils only within this area. Probably the only entertainment is a basketball board and a basketball in a tree. This is where men usually spend their time.

According to the migrants themselves, living conditions were extremely bad since they arrived, but now things are improving. The most important thing is that there is warm water and food that, as men have said, is now better than before. Also, recently each of them received a warm blue jacket. When the air cools, they are spent.

As soon as the migration crisis and the tent accommodation began, there was talk of medical problems. At one point, the problem was with coronavirus patients who were not provided with a separate isolation site. A little later, there was talk of an outbreak of scabies and that migrants unnecessarily abused them by calling an ambulance.

However, these problems are almost non-existent now, as the mobile medical aid team has been working here since Thursday.

“There have been abuses of emergency calls, I know, and they have happened more than once. But now that this is no longer the case, the pace of life has stabilized, people know that if they need medical help, they will need it. there are no complaints about medical help.

Mobile support teams have already started today, starting to work longer than before. There will be a new schedule from Monday, they will be on call all day, we will have doctors both in the morning and in the afternoon. The big problem with the provision of medical services will now be largely solved and everything should be fine, ”said the Rūdninkai camp administrator.

According to him, migrants often asked where the doctor was.

“It really is a breakthrough, we already have doctors practically every day this week. We may have more doctors in the future. Now they see that the doctor is there, everyone who wants to see the doctor that day receives the necessary help. This help was really necessary, medical care in the camp along with food and heat is one of the priority things, ”said R. Žekonis.

According to R. Žekonis, migrants often go to doctors for colds, sore throats and toothaches. If the disease is more serious and the field doctors decide that general care is not enough, the person is taken to the hospital.

There are currently no diagnosed cases of coronavirus at the Rūdninkai landfill. However, since August 11, 19 new cases have been identified in this camp alone. After their diagnosis, the camp residents are placed in isolation at locations designated by the operations manager. R. Žekonis assures that, at least for the moment, not only is the spread of the coronavirus not recorded here, but also other infectious diseases.

Migrants also have the opportunity to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. Many of them do, and special mobile teams bring and inject the vaccines.