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He lived in tents for almost two months.
As of Friday, 32 migrants were living in the Pushu border guard. Most of them spent 50 or more days in their tents, as they were detained in Lithuania until August 2, when the decision was made to turn back migrants crossing the border from Belarus.
Photo by Lukas Balandis / 15min / Living conditions of migrants at the Puškės border firebreak
Most of the Iraqis lived in the firewall, as well as Afghans and several Pakistani nationals. The men lived in tents of four or five each, divided into nationalities.
“We have many problems, we do not have the right conditions, a medical institution, normal water in the showers. We also have problems with food because they give us the same menu every day,” said a Pakistani who lives here in the middle of the week.
According to the men, the rapid cooling of the climate is also a big problem. Although so far they say they can still live in tents, they are eager to move into warm rooms. The migrants await clear confirmation that they will be removed from stores by the end of the month.
“Until the first of October we can live here because we understand that the government is facing a difficult situation. “We are grateful to the state for what it is doing, but we demand that we be relocated as soon as possible, because not only I but many others are in a bad position,” said the Pakistani.
Expect more from the state
The men say that they understand that Lithuania faces problems in welcoming and supplying more than four thousand migrants, but they believe that the state should be able to control this type of situation because “many European countries help it.”
“Four thousand migrants is not a big problem for the state. All those who came here have problems in their country. We did not come here for a good life or a good state, we came to survive. We have come to request asylum and that is a human right. We have the right to a good life, a good accommodation, but we don’t see anything like that here, “said one man.
The migrants say they do not know who is responsible for their proper care and do not know when their asylum applications will be considered.
“I think the application is accepted, we have received the documents from the Migration Directorate, the process is underway, but we do not know when it will end and when our future will be clear (…) I had an interview and I do not know when they will ask for another interview ”, says an Afghan.
Photo by Lukas Balandis / 15min / Living conditions of migrants at the Puškės border firebreak
Migrants also say they hope the state will provide them with the best medical care they need.
“We need a normal hospital, because everyone needs blood tests, some need an MRI, some need a CT scan. And there are no such conditions here,” said one of the men.
There is a lack of cash
According to the migrants, one of the main problems is the lack of cash. The only man living in the border guards is a young Iraqi man, about 25 years old. She moved in because she lives with a sister of a similar age, the only woman on this firewall.
“My sister and I have $ 200. When we run out of money, we can no longer buy anything and we don’t even know when they will transfer us to other camps,” he says.
Other migrants also say they want to buy food, vegetables, cigarettes and other goods for cash, but resent not receiving any help from the state.
“When we came from other countries, we had very little money because we expected that they would grant us asylum in a European country and that they would have to help us,” says a foreigner.
According to him, since the food that migrants are given is the same every day, they want to buy additional products.
“Two months have passed and we are not receiving money from the State (…) this is another problem that must be solved so that we can get money from the Government, as in other European countries that help refugees,” he says. man of Pakistani descent.
For the border guards, just praise
Migrants say they can only view the behavior of officials who supervise them in a positive light.
“The police and the army help us a lot. “If someone needs urgent help, call an ambulance in a few minutes and the person is treated,” said the Pakistani.
Border guards and volunteers from various organizations bring pillows, blankets and clothing to migrants, share food
Photo by Luke April / 15min / Officials protecting the border with Belarus in the Ignalina district
“All our problems, if we have them, are solved 24 hours a day. “If we need something and they have it, they will always give it to us,” says the man.
Firebreak commander Andrius Abromavičius says they spoke to the migrants from the beginning as equals, clearly expressing what they expected of them, and allowing them to work out many things on their own, so that conflicts did not arise.
Pushi’s border guards also say they do not face the problem of discarded or unacceptable food. According to them, a simple solution helped to solve this: a place was agreed where migrants who did not want certain foods could leave them and others could pick them up.
Such a simple solution allows all foreigners to eat what they like best and give up what they want least. According to the head of the firewall, the officials themselves often bring extra food.
According to the commander, open and honest communication with the migrants also avoided the problems that afflict other places of accommodation; so far no foreigners have tried to escape Pushu.
Move to the rejected premises
When the weather started to drop, the border guards decided to resolve the situation themselves and free up a fairly large garage for the migrants living in tents.
According to A.Abromavičius, although the conditions there were not ideal, the place is quite spacious, it has heaters. They would also protect the migrants from the fall weather: wind and rain.
However, the migrants refused to move to the garage.
“Because we were promised that we would be in the tents until the beginning of October, we all decided to stay in them. We can still endure that period of time. There is also a family that lives in the garage, so we don’t want to be together, “said a man from Pakistan.
Photo by Lukas Balandis / 15min / Living conditions of migrants at the Puškės border firebreak
According to him, the fact that everyone had to go through the garage door would also cause problems, which would annoy the rest of some people.
Possible conflicts are also avoided so that everyone lives together. Currently, the migrants are divided by nationality, each tent has its own number and manages the toilets in shifts, in addition to taking care of the area around the tent and the interior.
Men believe that if everyone moved into one room, friction between different nationalities would not be avoidable, the current order would not be maintained, and conflicts would inevitably arise.
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