MINSK, 17 May (BelTA) - Taking into account positive feedback and numerous requests of foreign nationals, the Belarusian head of state decided to extend until 2023 the visa waiver for citizens of Lithuania and Latvia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus informed. The . In some cases, their arbitrary detention at the border may amount to enforced disappearance, said Eve Geddie, Director of Amnesty Internationals European Institutions Office. ROBEZNIEKI, Latvia, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Latvian border guards turned back dozens of migrants into Belarus overnight under a new state of emergency designed to stem a flow of arrivals the European Union says is orchestrated by Minsk. If you are talented and passionate about human rights then Amnesty International wants to hear from you. There are stifferpenaltiesfor smuggling peopleacross the border. Latvia has given refugees and migrants a cruel ultimatum: accept to return voluntarily to their country, or remain stranded at the border facing detention, unlawful returns and torture. Rawa asked in his text message for help and a phone number for the U.N. children's agency UNICEF. +375 17 365 26 12, 24-hour helpline of the personal Baltic News Network uses cookies to customize content for readers and analyse information flow. bringing the total number of attempted crossings during the crisis to 1,005. pro-democracy movement following a disputed presidential election in August 2020. Cookies can be deleted at any time. The Latvian State Border Guard said in a statement on September 8 that its officers turned away 27 migrants from crossing the border with Belarus the previous day, bringing the total number of attempted crossings during the crisis to 1,005. read more. Poland said it had deployed nearly 1,000 troops to its border with Belarus to help border guards cope with a surge of migrants, and Lithuania sent a diplomatic note to Minsk expressing a strong protest against a violation of the Lithuanian border by Belarusian officers. This technology allows road users to pay for travel without stopping vehicles at collection points. Slovenia, which holds the EUs rotating presidency, is due to host a meeting of the blocs justice and home affairs ministers on 18 August to discuss unlawful migration from Belarus and the Lithuanian border situation. The European Union member country says the president of Belarus, Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, is encouraging migrants to cross their shared border as revenge for E.U. A spokesman for the European Commission said redirecting people to official crossing points was understandable if migrants were attempting to cross the border at unauthorised places. The state border guard chief, Guntis Pujts, said 65 had been detained on Monday night alone, arriving in large groups, in an organised flow. A stand-off ensued for hours as the migrants refused to retreat, during which one of them shouted in English: "Please help! On the territory between the state border and correspondent checkpoint is prohibited: For violations of these requirements foreign citizens are subjected to administrative liability (warning with deportation or without deportation, or a fine of up to fifty base values in accordance with Article 24.21 Code of Administrative Offences dated January 6, 2021 91- (hereinafter - the Code). We will be sticking together, keeping our composure, but we will be acting very resolutely," Karins told local TV, according to the Baltic News Service (BNS). Please just help us because (it is) so cold" and the children are sick, he said in a text sent from across the border adjacent to Robeznieki in Latvia. Amnestys report on Latvia follows and supplements similar reports focussing on abuses against refugees and migrants by Belarus, Poland and Lithuania. The move gives armed border guards the power to use force to repel migrants illegally attempting to cross into Latvian territory. "We can say that 2019 was a year of success, though whether it is possible to reduce the number of offenders to zero is unlikely," Pujtsadmits. Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdoan, has previously been open in demanding cash to prevent tens of thousands of refugees trying to reach Europe. The decree would allow guards to use physical force if necessary to send migrants back across the border. Another Iraqi, Omar, described how an officer hit him from behind and forced him to sign a return paper: He held my hand and said you should do the signature, and then with force, he made me do the signature.. Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said on Wednesday EU countries must demonstrate to Belarus that sending immigrants to cross into the bloc is pointless. While no direct flights currently operate from Kabul or other Afghan cities, observers now suspect Belarus will try to bring in more refugees from Afghanistan. Then one needs to check all the data entered and click the button Send application. Migrants preparing food last week at a newly built refugee camp in the Rudninkai military training ground, about 23 miles south of Vilnius in Lithuania. First of all, one group of potential illegal immigrants were not let on Latvias territory. The application should contain the surname and name of a foreigner in Latin or Cyrillic as indicated in the passport (one option is sufficient), passport information, insurance, date of entry into the country, address of temporal stay. Looking at the situation in Lithuania and considering the growing risks on the Latvian-Belarusian state border, it was previously decided to increase monitoring on the border and mobilize State Border Guard and army resources in order to ensure better control over the border. A Syrian national is fighting for his life in a Polish hospital, having fallen from a border wall in his attempt to flee Belarus and find safety elsewhere in Europe . At the entrance to the Republic of Belarus for more than a month, foreign citizens should have funds equivalent to at least 50 base values. In Lithuania,lawmakers are debating whether to erect a4-meter-high (13 foot) metal fence armed with razor wire along 508 kilometers (316 miles) of its 670-kilometer (416-mile) border with Belarus. News October 12, 2022 Latvia: Refugees and migrants arbitrarily detained, tortured and forced to 'voluntarily' return to their countries. The pushback, witnessed by Reuters, occurred just hours after Latvia declared an emergency to prevent illegal migrants, mostly from the Middle East, Africa and Asia, from crossing into the EU state from Belarus. Latvia and Lithuania on Tuesday announced measures to counter an increase in illegal migration acrossboth countries' border with Belarus. Registration is made on the basis of the application for registration or a written request of the receiving organization. When crossing the border of the Republic of Belarus regardless of crossing method, it is obligatory to pass: border and customs control and, if necessary, automobile, veterinary, sanitary-quarantine and phytosanitary types of control. Latvia and Lithuania on Tuesday announced measures to counter an increase in illegal migration across both countries' border with Belarus. 12/01/2021. +375 17 265 90 08, Official web portal of the President of the Republic of Belarus, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Website of Belarus Embassy in the Russian Federation, State Customs authorities of the Republic of Belarus, National Legal Internet Portal of the Republic of Belarus, The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus, If you find a mistake, please highlight it, Main tasks and functions of the State Border Committee, List of administrative procedures performed by the State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus, Visa-free entry to Belarus for citizens of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, Facilitation of Mutual Travel by Residents of Border Territories of the Republic of Belarus and the Latvian Republic, For organizations conducting international passenger transportation, List of the settlements located in the border zone, Rules of entry to border zone for foreign citizens, Rules for staying in border line for foreign citizens, Personnel of the International Cooperation Department, List of the countries whose citizens enter the Republic of Belarus without a visa. Those people are in detention for illegal border crossing. On the anniversary of his contested reelection, the EU has also threatened further sanctions. Aleksander Lukashenko's regime has sought to destabilize . On the previous four nights, guards patrolling a 36.5-km stretch of Latvia's 170km border with Belarus said they stopped around 200 people. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. In recent years, people from Iraq, Pakistan, Indiaand elsewherehave been trying to cross the Latvian border illegally, but Vietnamese have featured particularly prominently. Latvia says it has prevented more than 1,000 people from illegally entering the Baltic country since a state of emergency was declared at its border with Belarus a month ago, amid accusations that Minsk is intentionally sending migrants into EU member states. A foreign citizen or a stateless person, who arrived in the Republic of Belarus, is obliged to register in a registration authority at place of actual temporary stay within ten days, except for Sundays, public holidays and high days. The Latvian State Border Guard says this has been achieved by improving both the border infrastructure and the legal definitions and punishments for illegally entering the country. Latvian authorities have repeatedly extended the state of emergency, currently until November 2022, despite the decrease of movements over time, and their own admission that the number of attempted entries were the result of multiple crossings by the same people. Unemployment levels going down and competition for employees going up in Latvia, Inflation in Latvia. cries migrant in stranded group, Pushback at Latvian border comes after emergency declared, Responds to alleged Belarusian 'weaponisation' of migrants, Latvia's PM condemns Minsk's 'hybrid warfare' against EU, Lithuania has also acted to stem tide of migrants. Lithuania has announced it will build a barrier on the border with Belarus and deploy troops to prevent migrants from illegally crossing into its territory. Along with Poland, the two Baltic states accuse Alexander Lukashenko of hybrid warfare. Hassan, from Iraq, told Amnesty International that he tried to explain that his life would be in danger if he was returned: The commando responded: You can die here too. The Finnish Border Guard on Friday showcased [] Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty 2023 RFE/RL, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. On Tuesday, Latvia declared a state of emergency in border areas from August 11 until November 10 along its 175 kilometer (109 mile) border with Belarus to allow soldiers and police to support border guards. The Lithuanian parliament is also looking into allowing the military to assist border guards. BelToll is an electronic toll collection system , which operates on the territory of the Republic of Belarus since the 1st of July, 2013. Lithuanian authorities have seen numbers of migrants crossing from Belarus grow from just 74 in 2020 to 4,110 so far this year. Considering the increasing illegal migration pressure on Latvian-Belarusian border, the State Border Guard has taken numerous measures. D - long-term, valid for up to 1 year with the right to stay up to 90 days, unless otherwise provided by international treaties of the Republic of Belarus. They were moved to the Mucenieki migration centre near the capital Riga. Among those convicted recently areVietnamese, Russian and Latvian citizens. A document for returning to the state of citizenship or residence (if the passport is lost on the territory of the Republic of Belarus); The migration card is not filled in when entering the territory of the Republic of Belarus and when leaving the territory of the Republic of Belarus and is not produced by foreign citizens, who cross the State Border of the Republic of Belarus for temporary stay in the Republic of Belarus. We provide what many people cannot get locally: uncensored news, responsible discussion, and open debate. Foreign citizen travelling in transit through the territory of the Republic of Belarus, enters the Republic of Belarus and departures from the Republic of Belarus on a valid passport or other replacing document, suitable for traveling abroad and issued by the relevant authority of the state of citizenship or habitual residence of the foreigner or an international organization, with transit visa or another visa of the Republic of Belarus, granting a foreigner the right to cross the state border of the Republic of Belarus, unless otherwise provided by international treaties of the Republic of Belarus. The leaders of Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia came together on Saturday to condemn Belarus for allowing migrants to illegally cross its borders into the European Union. 17 Apr 2023. 713 and the Department of Citizenship and Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs by phone 218-55-08, 218-52- 51. Adil, a man from Iraq, who spent several months in the forest since August 2021, told Amnesty International: We used to sleep in the forest on the snow. The availability of funds can be confirmed by producing: Features of issue of entry visas at the National Airport Minsk, The issuance of entry visas at RUE National Airport Minsk is carried out by the Foreign Admissions Division of the Head Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Belarus. of Foreigners Temporarily Staying in the Republic of Belarus. The European Union has accused Belarus' authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko of encouraging illegal border crossings as a "hybrid attack" to retaliate against the bloc's sanctions on his government for its crackdown on domestic protests after his disputed 2020 re-election. Latvia and Lithuaniahad already raised the alarm earlier this year about Belarus giving free passage to migrants in May. 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