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It is true that lately the locals have livened up the boring days a bit and the eager anticipation of the future. Initially, when they encountered the illegal immigrants with anxiety and opposition, the Vydenians resigned; In addition to their homeland, home, and loved ones, they not only brought food and clothing to the remaining immigrants, but occasionally engaged in playing basketball or soccer together.
“To this day, the neighbors agree with them in good faith, come and speak. They provide support with both food and clothing and sometimes even organize certain games: they play football or basketball outdoors, ”said Alvydas Verbickas, director of the municipal administration of the Varėna district.
The Vydeniai school was visited for the first time on Tuesday by the mobile team of the Migration Department, which began its work this week and is made up of specialists, border guards, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and translators. Its aim is to provide migrants with detailed information on their current situation and opportunities to return to their country of origin.
Says I escaped death
On a rainy Tuesday morning, in the fenced area around the Vydeniai village school, only one other migrant temporarily living here escaped. Most of them, along with their new roommates, roared in the crowded beds, with tables with the inscriptions: “Lithuanian”, “English”, “History” hanging on the door.
Another part attracted journalists to meet the guests and see how the work of the Mobile Migration Department team is progressing at this school. The migrants’ curiosity was often replaced by fear: they hid their faces under masks, hats, towels, but only turned their eyes to their eyes when the television cameras turned.
I just wanted to talk to each other. Most believed they did not speak English, others saw the camera lens or the dictaphone and did not rush down the hall, and a few more migrants tried to negotiate that they would only speak if they bought cigarettes for them.
A migrant from Cameroon agreed to share his story in inconsistent English. On his phone, he showed images of suspected terrorists being tortured by local terrorists. One of the photos shows a migrant mother who, according to him, was killed during these tortures.
When asked how he feels here in Lithuania, the Cameroonian said he had nothing to complain about: he had a place where he could sleep and be safe. Upon his return to Cameroon, he said that he would not agree to any money because he no longer had anything there: no home, no family, no peace.
“I have a place where I can sleep, security, that’s enough for me now,” said the migrant who arrived illegally in Lithuania with a friend of similar luck.
In turn, another fluent English-speaking migrant from Somalia did not hide that living conditions in Lithuania were not the best, but assured that everything would be fine if there was peace in the country.
“I am at least safe in Lithuania. I want to live a normal life. My ambition was to reach a European Union country. In Belarus, we were told that there was a nearby Lithuanian border that we could cross.” A person helped me to come to Belarus, but I do not know him, “he opened.
How does the procedure work?
The Vydeniai rural school hosted a total of 146 illegal immigrants, the majority from Mali and Somalia. The director of the Varėna district municipality administration was pleased with the exemplary behavior of the migrants from these countries and assured that the municipality is ready to serve migrants as much as necessary.
The migrants only heard more clarity about their situation on Tuesday, when a mobile team from the Migration Department began working with them. It also has translators for English, French and Arabic.
“The objective of these mobile working groups is to meet each illegal migrant housed in the Vydeniai school, register them, inform them about the process that awaits them and about the possibility of returning voluntarily,” said Evelina Gudzinskaitė, director of the Department of Migration that visited this educational institution.
Migrants who stopped one after another in line received sheets describing their situation in several languages, warnings about what to expect if they did not cooperate with specialists, and suggestions for returning to their homeland.
Later, together with the interpreters, they traveled to the table, where they were received by representatives of the mobile team, asking why the migrants arrived in Lithuania or filling in the asylum application.
At one of the tables is a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the former Lithuanian Consul General in Chicago, Mantvydas Bekešius, who volunteers in a mobile group. He asked the migrant sitting across the table if he had already completed his asylum application. He replied in the affirmative, but had a copy of the document only on the phone, so he was asked to bring it.
“Some have arrived very early. Now I am working with someone who arrived in early July. We tried to refine the data, take photos of the migrants, and upload everything to the system. The migrant claims to have made the request, to have written something by hand, but he does not have a copy, he only took it over the phone.
If you have applied, you will not have to reapply for asylum. Says he escaped death. He did not mention anything more specific, he only said that he had come to Lithuania to save his life, ”said M. Bekešius.
Translator who works with migrants: it is difficult for people
Hisham Ibrahim, an Arabic translator from Lebanon, also works with immigrants from the Vydeniai village school. He did not hide the fact that fatigue is currently felt not only by migrants themselves, but also by translators, whose workload has changed significantly. The main questions that migrants ask interpreters are related to telephones and health services.
Although it is known that some migrants are already requesting to return home, Ibrahim himself says that he has not yet faced such a situation.
“At least personally I didn’t hear anyone wanting to go back. It is difficult for people. This is a normal feeling. As far as I know, there are those who want to, who are currently requesting voluntary return. But there are those who said no, because fleeing the war, other bad conditions. They say they cannot return because there is danger ”, emphasized the translator.
In which case could he stay in Lithuania?
The Migration Department still does not know these asylum seekers well; the 200 applications examined so far have been rejected. After hearing that they will not be able to stay in Lithuania or travel further to Europe, migrants, according to E. Gudzinskaitė, are very disappointed and surprised, but due to mistrust of state institutions, they often continue to think that they are being lied to. to.
“They think we are lying to them and they still think that after a while they will be able to leave Lithuania for Europe. Our job is to explain to them that their ideas are unfounded,” explained the head of the Migration Department.
When communicating with migrants, according to E. Gudzinskaitė, they often say that they want a better life in Europe, and even those who claim to be persecuted point out such persecution that they have experienced by neighbors or relatives, the parents of the spouse.
“We keep asking for what purpose did you come? The most common answer is that I want to live better in Europe. Very rare who says that someone is harassing him. Most of the time, those persecutions come from neighbors, relatives, parents of the spouse. Most simply want to live better in Europe because they cannot find work in their home country and say that human rights are not respected there.
Another group says: “I studied in Belarus, I had no money, they expelled me from university and dormitory, so I found myself here.” A story like this is not convincing, because it is always embellished, it is replaced with other details, ”said the head of the Migration Department.
E. Gudzinskaitė noted that asylum seekers in Lithuania will be granted to those migrants who prove that in the state from which they fled, a certain organization or the state itself persecutes them for their activities, beliefs, sexual orientation, assignment to a certain group. .
The department staff who go to the camps also inform the migrants about the offer to receive € 300 and return home. And although, according to the head of the Department of Migration, there is interest in the proposal, so far between 15 and 20 people are seriously considering this option.
“People are very practical and are interested in that offer of 300 euros. Now that they have just been informed about the possibility of receiving those 300 euros, we will return to the already informed migrants after a while and we will ask them, perhaps they have already made up their minds.
We will create all the opportunities for those who decide to contact us and receive return assistance ”, he concluded.
