For the past year, MSF have seen an effort on the part of Lithuanian government to normalise aspects of the response to migration that have only been possible under the current state of emergency, as well as anti-migrant rhetoric and practices. The Lithuanian government has recently completed a 550KM fence at the border with Belarus with the intention of deterring people from making the journey to seek asylum in Lithuania and preventing people at the border from entering the country. The government is also planning to extend, and potentially make permanent, the practice of pushbacks at the border through new legislation.

People are being subjected to repeated pushbacks from border guards in Lithuania and Belarus – ‘ping-ponged’ between the two borders over days or even months. They often lack basic necessities, including lack of food and water, shelter and access to medical aid in their time in the border region.