As part of its collaboration with the Global Detention Project-sponsored Global Immigration Detention Observatory initiative, the Vilnius-based Human Rights Monitoring Institute, issued an information request to Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service concerning key statistics and practices related to the arrest and detention of migrants and asylum seekers. Although the border guard promptly responded to the […]
Lithuania
Lithuania: Reports of Arbitrary Detention, Physical Abuse, and Pushbacks
Recent reports highlight ongoing abuses of migrants and asylum seekers by Lithuanian border guards, including arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, and pushbacks into Belarus. The Human Rights Monitoring Institute (HRMI), a GDP partner in Lithuania, recently documented three cases involving unlawful restrictions of migrants’ liberty, abuses by Lithuanian authorities, and pushbacks to Belarus. According to their report, […]
Lithuania: Follow-Up Report to the UN Committee Against Torture
The Human Rights Monitoring Institute and the Global Detention Project jointly issued an alternative follow-up report to the UN Committee on Torture (CAT) with regards to the recommendations contained in Paragraph 12 of the committee’s Concluding Observations CAT/C/LTU/CO/4 on the fourth periodic report of Lithuania. […]
Lithuania: Joint Submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
Joint Submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child 95th Session – January/ February 2024 Issues Related to the Immigration Detention of Children The Global Detention Project (GDP) and the Human Rights Monitoring Institute (HRMI) welcome the opportunity to provide information relevant to the fifth and sixth periodic review of Lithuania with […]
Immigration detention in Lithuanian (from report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture 2021 visit to Lithuanian)
Preliminary remarks (Read full CPT report) 88. In 2021, Lithuania faced an unprecedented influx of foreign nationals irregularly entering itsterritory through its land border with Belarus. Between May and mid-August, 4 110 persons wereapprehended by security forces in this context. 89. This influx of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants led to the Lithuanian governmentdeclaring an […]
Oral Submission: Testimony on Lithuania’s Treatment of Migrants at the Border with Belarus at the UN Committee against Torture’s 72nd Session
The Human Rights Monitoring Institute and the Global Detention Project presented reports about mistreatment and disappearances of migrants and asylum seekers detained near the border with Belarus at the 72nd Session of the UN Committee against Torture. […]
Joint Submission to the Committee against Torture: Lithuania
This submission highlights Lithuania’s treatment of migrants and asylum seekers in response to recent increases in border crossings from Belarus, which has included stranding vulnerable people–including children–in dire conditions in border regions, using ad hoc detention sites, and expanding detention powers. Testimonies provided by detainees include numerous allegations of torture and mistreatment by security officials. […]
Lithuania: Covid-19 and Detention
In July 2021, Lithuania accused Belarus of using vulnerable migrants and asylum seekers as political pawns in its ongoing spat with the EU by pushing them across the border into Lithuania and other neighbouring countries. The EU had previously imposed sanctions on Belarus in June over an “escalation of serious human rights violations and the […]
Lithuania: Covid-19 and Detention
According to recent news reports, Lithuanian authorities are considering expanding the capacity of the Pabrade Detention Centre (the “Foreigners Reception Centre) as a response to an increase in irregular migration from Belarus. Previously, the Global Detention Project (GDP) reported on this platform that the government announced in March 2020 a series of COVID-related measures that […]
Immigration Detention in the European Union
This book offers a unique comparative assessment of the evolution of immigration detention systems in European Union member states since the onset of the “refugee crisis.” By applying an analytical framework premised on international human rights law in assessing domestic detention regimes, the book reveals the extent to which EU legislation has led to the adoption of laws and practices that may disregard fundamental rights and standards. […]
