The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated needed underwear and shoes to the Refugee camps along the border of Lithuania and Belarus.
Camp for Refugees: Pabradė
There are 5 camps open for
Refugees in Lithuania: Medininkai, Pabrade, Rukla, Vilniaus, Kybartai.
After the Medininkai facility is
closed, irregular migrants will be accommodated at four remaining registration
centres across Lithuania: in Pabradė, Rukla, Vilnius, and Kybartai.
The five centres currently house
around 1,400 irregular migrants in total. (2021)
Almost 4,200 irregular migrants crossed into
Lithuania from Belarus last year.
All irregular migrants in
Lithuania were moved out of tent camps October 1, 2022.
In Pabrade, where we visited, are
400 refugees. Refugees came from Iraq, Camaroon, Africa, and other parts of
Africa, and other countries. They were refugees without papers. Their papers
were taken from them either before they entered Belarus or at the border of
Belarus. Pabrade is about 9 kilometers from the Belarus border and about 1 hour
drive north to Vilnius.
Red Cross works with the refugees
trying to preserve their dignity, help with clothing and psychological needs. Miglė
Miliauskaitė, the Red Cross representative
drove us to the camp. We met one of the psychologists who had worked at the
camp for 1 year.
She talked about the food, which
is not very good. They are not allowed to cook their own food so a van comes to
the camp with prepared food.
There are separate buildings, one
for men, and one for women, fenced and guarded for the prisoners. There are
about 10 prisoners.
There are two container housing
areas. One is fenced with barb wire. Those that live there are able to leave
their area and walk around the perimeter for about 2 hours.
The others can leave the complex
during the day with a pass, but have to return at a certain time.
There is a brick housing building
that are for women similar to the one below in this picture.
We were not allowed to take photos
of this government facility. We were honored to be allowed in the complex to
assess the nature of the camps for our humanitarian work.
We saw a large flat area that was
used for tents that are no longer there. There are no children is camp, they
have moved with their families to another camp.
Pabrade is home to single
refugees, or married refugees without children.
These are similar to the containers that the refugee lives in.
The Red Cross has offices that are containers in the complex.
Because these refugees have no papers they are only allowed to stay
in the camp for a year. They are supposed to be sent back the country.
Loop-hole. It is illegal for immigrants to be admitted into the
country without legal papers. So, if they don’t have legal papers, they are not
allowed to leave the country in which they had been living, which is in
Lithuania in these camps.
We heard that some refugees try to make it to Germany, and if they
succeed and are caught then they are sent back to Lithuania or their own
country. Germany is an asylum seeker country, and assess the situation. Those
that are caught will either be sent back to their original country, which they
are refused because they sought asylum elsewhere, and then they are sent back
to Lithuania where they have been refugees at the camps. It is a vicious cycle.
Some refugees are able to have success stories and get help
through Red Cross or the government to move on.
.JPG)
