The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) urges Lithuania to reconsider its policy of turning back irregular migrants at the border with Belarus, BNS reports. Annika Sandlund, UNHCR representative to the Nordic and Baltic countries, said that Lithuania should review its emergency legislation that allows pushbacks. Even though irregular migrants were being used for political pressure, they were still victims and their asylum claims should be assessed individually, Sandlund stressed. Moreover, she called on Lithuania to honour its obligations under the EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum. Earlier, the Lithuanian government decided to accept only half of the migrants assigned under the pact and pay for the rest.
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