[ad_1]
The Minister of the Interior, Agnė Bilotaitė, has been appointed Chief of Emergency Operations.
“Observing the situation in recent days, we have made the decision to propose to the government that it declare an emergency situation due to illegal migration,” the report quoted the Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė as saying.
The state-level emergency declaration was proposed by the State Border Guard Service (SBGS), whose officials detained 150 illegal immigrants last day, which is almost three times more than the previous daily records.
The declaration of an emergency situation would make it possible to involve additional forces in border control, simplify public procurement procedures and oblige municipalities to provide accommodation for migrants.
“This step is necessary due to legal regulation, so that we can streamline procedures, coordinate actions and mobilize capacities. It will also be possible to use the Government Reserve in this case. Furthermore, this decision will help ensure cooperation with municipalities and other institutions, ”says the Interior Minister.
A total of 822 illegal immigrants from Belarus tried to enter Lithuania this year, ten times more than during all of 2020.
Border guards are closely monitoring the situation by helicopter for the presence of large groups of migrants on the Belarusian side.
With the recent significant increase in these cases, SBGS has strengthened border security with Belarus. In addition to various organizational measures, officials from other SBGS units were assigned to this section and additional technical resources were assigned.
In addition, border guards have been assisted by forces from the Public Security Service, the Union of Rifles and other institutions, and officials from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, are starting to work on the border with Belarus. .
The emergency declaration should not be dramatized
Following the WESC proposal to declare an emergency situation due to the influx of immigrants from Belarus, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė proposes not to declare this declaration.
“This will be an emergency, we should not dramatize that announcement, because the emergency is necessary for certain logistical problems so that we can use the help of the municipality,” I. Šimonytė told reporters on Friday after a meeting with the president of the Commission European, Ursula. von der Leyen.
“One of the biggest challenges is due to the situation of the pandemic, that the people who arrive must be quarantined, which means that more physical capacity or resources are needed than they would be if the situation were different,” he emphasized.
According to the head of Government, the number of migrants detained last day, which reached 150, does not show a clear trend regarding the growing flows of illegal migrants.
“There are days when there is a single digit, there are days like today, there were days when there were 80. I think that, as in the case of Kovido, we have to look less at a specific number and see more how to deal with that problem. “, said. Šimonytė.
“Now we see that additional capacity is needed and we will expand it by declaring a state of emergency,” he added.
The Prime Minister said she believed the influx of illegal immigrants from Belarus was revenge for the European Union’s common position on the Minsk regime’s crackdown on civil society, the crackdown and the hijacking of a civilian plane in May.
The State Border Guard Service (SBGS) proposed declaring a statewide emergency on Friday, whose officials detained 150 illegal immigrants last day, which is nearly three times as many as previous daily records. This was also endorsed by the Government Emergency Commission.
The declaration of the state of emergency should be decided by the government in an urgent meeting on Friday night.
The declaration of an emergency situation would make it possible to involve additional forces in border control, simplify public procurement procedures and oblige municipalities to provide accommodation for migrants.
A total of 822 illegal immigrants from Belarus tried to enter Lithuania this year, ten times more than during all of 2020.
