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Belarus and neighbouring countries - Europe Region: Population Movement Emergency appeal No. MGR65001, 6-Month Operation Update

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Беларусь
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IFRC
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SITUATION ANALYSIS

Description of the situation

The migration situation related to Belarus and neighbouring countries started in May 2021 with an increasing number of migrants irregularly entering Lithuania from Belarus. Later, in August 2021, there was an increase of migrants in Latvia and Poland. Since then, the situation has impacted an estimated 20,000 people spread across several countries, mainly Belarus, Poland, and Lithuania. Following regular and daily attempts by people to cross the borders into the EU during the autumn and an escalation on the border which led to clashes in early November, the situation de-escalated in December 2021 and early January 2022.

As a result of the Ukraine and Impacted Countries Crisis that started on 24 February 2022, the countries neighboring Ukraine were also affected by the crisis and the influx of immigrants. Countries neighboring Ukraine, especially Poland, have received the highest number of refugees and are now heavily involved in providing humanitarian assistance to them. As a result of this situation, the Belarus and Neighboring Countries Europe Region Population Movement Emergency Appeal (EA), combined with the de-escalation was overshadowed by the Ukraine-related humanitarian crisis.

Although the National Societies operating within the scope of this EA did not give their full priority to the Belarus and Neighboring Countries Europe Region Population Movement EA during the acute periods of the Ukraine crisis, the activities within the scope of this EA were continued. In the Belarus, distribution of humanitarian aid, health service services, coordination with local authorities and RFL services continued within this process. Distribution of health services and humanitarian aid materials also continued in Poland as well and RFL service in Lithuania continued without any interruption.

After the de-escalation, some migrants remained in the terrain by the border, but the majority on the Belarus side of the border were moved to and housed in a logistics centre at Bruzgi border crossing. The number of people accommodated in the logistics centre decreased from around 1,850 people in November to 800 in January and 450 in early March. In March 2022 all migrants have left the logistics centre, either as a result of the IOM voluntary return programme or in another attempt to cross the border to the EU. The exact number of migrants across Belarus (excluding the logistics centre) is unknown, however, estimated in the low hundreds by the Belarus Red Cross, UNHCR and IOM. People are accommodated in centres in both Lithuania and Poland. In Lithuania, 1,551 people are held in five centres, pending asylum application processes, with the number of cumulative arrivals amounting to 4,465 according to the Lithuanian Ministry of Interior. Since August 2021, according to reports, 8,200 persons have been pushed-back from the Lithuanian borders. In Poland, people are held in detention centres1 managed by the Polish Border Guard. Some of the migrants who have arrived from Belarus during the past year were also placed in open centres run by the Office for Foreigners. Reports indicate that attempts to cross the border between Belarus and Poland are continuing, but at a significantly decreased rate. Humanitarian needs, human rights violations and operational constraints continue to be in the focus of concern. Following the increased number of attempts of border crossings and political tension at the EUs Eastern borders starting since the summer 2021 and in response to EU MS calls for stricter border control measures, the EC has published a number of legislative changes. These include: proposed emergency measures in the areas of asylum and return for Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, the revision of the EU Schengen Border Code as well as a proposed Regulation addressing the situation of instrumentalization in migration and asylum. All three proposals, together with the ones already included in the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, risk further undermining migrants’ fundamental rights at EU borders, notably the right to asylum and the principle of nonrefoulement. In practice, these proposals might further exacerbate the already serious humanitarian consequences on migrants and can lead to vulnerable groups at risk of not receiving critical assistance and protection measures.

In Belarus, the situation has eased, with no influx of significant number of migrants observed. The number of migrants staying in Belarus has also reduced significantly due to repatriation flights, through which 3,817 Iraqi migrants have been repatriated from Belarus and 112 from Lithuania, as well as the IOM Assisted Voluntary Repatriation and Reintegration Programme, which assisted around 400 migrants to return from Belarus to their countries of origin in the last year. Although there are reported attempts to cross the border into the EU through Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia, they are limited in number and scale due to harsh winter conditions, and, in general, the strengthened border protection measures. There were occasional reports that the migrants attempted to cross the border in April – July, but there is no such scale is in the end of 2021. However, the situation is monitored as it might develop again.

In Lithuania**, the reports by the State Border Guard Service shows a significant decrease of irregular bordercrossings during the last six months. According to the official statistics of the Migration Department under the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania, 135 people, who irregularly entered Lithuania from Belarus, had their asylum application approved and 80 people received Temporary Residence Permit cards. On the other hand, 2,703 asylum claims were rejected, while 596 procedures were suspended. According to the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, 1,134 migrants have returned to their countries of origin from Lithuania, 1,048 of whom did so voluntarily. There are currently 1,551 foreigners living in five reception centres. By the end of 2021, the Lithuanian government introduced new legislation that allowed to detain migrants in irregular situation for up to 18 months, with a decision taken every six months. However, in May 2022, Lithuania’s Ministry of Interior announced that the restriction would not be extended for another six months, and migrants would be asked to leave the country. In late May 2022, reception centres’ administration began issuing permissions allowing migrants to temporarily leave reception centres. 4 out of 5 migrants who have received permission to temporarily leave reception centres were reported to have never returned to the facility with their whereabouts unknown.

On 30 June 2022, the Lithuanian Government introduced changes to the Law on The Legal Status of Aliens. The amendment allows migrants, who arrived in Lithuania by crossing the Lithuanian border from Belarus, to seek for employment, under the condition that their arrival to Lithuania has been registered within the Migration department system for 12 months. Although many people arrived in Lithuania in the summer 2021, they were registered within the system later than their arrival. This means that several people will be forced to wait approximately until September to be able to access the labour market.

In Poland, the reports by the Polish Border Guard reported a significant decrease of the daily attempts (from 500 to 35) to cross the Polish border between mid-December 2021 and mid-January 2021 from the side of Belarus, due to harsh weather conditions, such as low temperature, strong winds, and high precipitaion. Some people are pushed back to Belarus, while some who ask for asylum in Poland, especially families or ill persons, and are transferred to detention centres. As of the last officially communicated figure (in February 2022), there were 1,6752 persons in the detention centres. At the moment, the Polish Red Cross (PRC) has access to one detention centre in Podlasie region, and is allowed only to deliver goods.