The Lithuanian government has paid 98 illegal migrants €1,000 ($1,130) each to return to Iraq.
The Lithuanian government paid 98 Iraqis who had crossed illegally into Lithuania through the Lithuanian-Belarusian border €1,000 ($1,130) each, to peacefully board a flight to the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
The Lithuanian Ministry of the Interior released a statement saying that all 98 migrants left voluntarily on the 2nd of January 2022, after their asylum claims were rejected.
The Interior Ministry have called the scheme a “one-time payout” in place for all illegal migrants “currently” in Lithuania and it is valid until the 20th of January 2022.
The scheme has been praised by the Interior Ministry as they say it saves the Lithuanian people money. The Ministry has highlighted that the cost is largely covered by the European Commission (the executive branch of the European Union) and that if the migrants were to remain each one would cost the Lithuanian people an average of €11,000 euros a year.
Prior to this €1,000 voluntary repatriation policy, Lithuania did provide financial incentives for migrants to turn home, but the Interior Ministry has said that “the decision to triple the state payout for returning migrants has paid off” and that the Lithuanian people “can see the result already”.
Lithuania’s Minister of the Interior Agnė Bilotaitė has said that all “foreigners” who entered Lithuania and the EU illegally “must be returned to their countries of origin”. Bilotaitė also encouraged illegal migrants to “return voluntarily”.
The Lithuanian Ministry have said that they have already returned 537 migrants to their countries of origin and “482 of whom did so voluntarily”. They state that there are currently 3,166 illegal migrants living in Lithuanian migrant registration centres.
The Lithuanian government, like other Eastern European nations, has blamed Belarus — which they labelled an “undemocratic regime” — for the increase in migrants attempting to cross into Lithuania, stating they believe Iraqi citizens have fallen for Belarus’ “deception”.
The Ministry has stated Iraqi citizens “make up the majority of irregular migrants to Lithuania”.
In December last year, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) published a report that said they found “a total of 455 social media accounts facilitating the illegal immigration from Belarus to Europe”.
Europol alleges that these accounts posted “content promoting illegal immigration services from Belarus to Europe”, such as “advertising the sale of counterfeit ID documents, passports, visas or illegal transportation services”. Europol has claimed that these accounts have led to “a large increase of departures and irregular border crossings” into Europe.
It is unclear who is behind these social media accounts, but Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has denied allegations that he invited migrants into Belarus.
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