Since June 2021, thousands of people – mainly from Iraq, but also from Syria, Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon and several other countries – have been trying to reach the European Union (EU) via Belarus. They are trying to cross from Belarus to Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Political leaders from Poland and Lithuania, as well as EU member states and institutions, are accusing the Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko of attempting to destabilise the EU by facilitating migrants and asylum seekers to cross into the EU. In response, the EU countries have built fences, significantly increased border patrols.



In August, Lithuania amended its laws to state that all people entering the territory can be automatically returned to the border, without examination of an application for international protection, effectively legalizing pushbacks. This led people to hide in the forest in precarious conditions as they attempted to find safety within the EU and avoid being forcibly and sometimes violently pushed back to Belarus.



The MSF team in Lithuania was providing support, including mental healthcare, health promotion sessions and relief items, to people held in nine of the 11 border guard posts. The highest expressed needs of people in those locations are related to psychological distress, a lack of access to information and legal support, and a lack of access to a means of communicating with their family and friends. MSF teams have distributed relief items including hygiene items, kitchen items, clothes and recreational items such as books and games.