Following a Belarusian policy that attracted thousands of migrants into the country offering them the hope of crossing into the European Union, neighbouring Lithuania has received an unprecedented influx of migrants. Lithuanian authorities have sent these people to hastily built reception centres, where many of them remain in limbo, sometimes for months at a time. The migrants, many of them from Iraq, report living under difficult circumstances in the centres.
Last summer, thousands of migrants tried to enter the European Union – Poland, Latvia and Lithuania – from neighbouring Belarus. Most of them were Iraqis, who arrived by plane in the Belarusian capital Minsk from Baghdad on tourist visas. On the other hand, many Africans had already been living in Belarus for months or even years, often on student visas, when they tried to cross the border.
