[ad_1]
“There are a lot of probabilistic calculations here, because the costs, at least those necessary to support migrants over a certain period of time, also depend on the number of people and how well they can return people to their countries of origin. I do not want to speculate on numbers, because later even the simulations of certain exercises are turned into real numbers in the propaganda, I would not want to make very specific assumptions so that those assumptions are not understood as the government’s forecast, “said I. Šimonytė in a press conference held on Monday.
But obviously we already have to talk about tens of millions of euros for these purposes, if we count the period until the end of the year and if the trends at least remain stable, that is, they do not deteriorate significantly, but do not improve, “he said.
The Prime Minister also draws attention to the funds needed to install a physical barrier on the border with Belarus.
There are other parts of the solutions that are related to the physical protection of the border: both the equipment that still needs to be installed at the border, the surveillance equipment, the control equipment, what has been done so far, and the physical barrier. that the government is committed to building on the border, from the most vulnerable sections, but also taking into account the entire eastern border of the European Union ”, said the Prime Minister.
According to I. Šimonytė, funds for the construction of a physical barrier at the border are expected to exceed 100 million. euros.
“We are already talking here of significant sums, if this project is fully implemented, we are talking of sums greater than 100 million. emphasized the Prime Minister.
“However, I will be very simple and direct: the government will implement this project regardless of how we manage to discuss with the European Commission the possible contribution of the European institutions, since we understand the protection of our borders and the borders of the European Union,” he added .
Last Sunday, according to the Department of Statistics, 287 migrants from Belarus who crossed the border illegally were detained. This year a total of 3,832 of those foreigners were arrested.
This number is ten times higher than in all of 2020. Last year, 81 of those foreigners were arrested on the other side of the border with Lithuania. 2019 46 illegal immigrants were caught by border guards in 2018; – 104, 2017 – 72.
This year, 2,882 illegal migrants were detained in July, 473 in June, 77 in May, 70 in April and 8 in March.
Among those detained on the border with Belarus this year there are mostly Iraqi citizens or foreigners who have presented themselves before them: 2,555. Also detained 191 Congolese, 129 Cameroonians, 124 Syrians, 90 Russians, 91 Iranians, 79 Guineans and 79 Afghans are also detained and others. the citizens.
With a significant increase in the number of such 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, the border guards were assisted by forces from other Lithuanian institutions, including the army, as well as officials from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency FRONTEX and Estonia.
Lithuania has also started to build a physical barrier: a concert fence. The Migration Department is hiring more staff to speed up the processing of asylum applications.
