Lithuania To Pay 1000 Euro For Migrants To Return To Their Country Of Origin

03/01/2022

Hanorah Hardy

Europe and Human Rights Researcher, 

Global Human Rights Defence

As of December 2021, the Lithuanian government has increased the cash incentive to migrants to return to their country of origin. The original amount was set as €300, but has now been increased to €1000 plus the cost of flights home according to the Lithuanian interior minister, Agne Bilotaite. Bilotaite explained “The basic cost of maintaining one migrant is €11,000 per year. It is obviously much more profitable for us to offer a benefit, buy a ticket or arrange a flight and thus have fewer challenges and other problems.” [1] People crossing the European border have been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster and in many cases, do not have sufficient access to a stable income. This monetary incentive can be seen as an attempt to force migrants to return to unsafe environments ‘voluntarily’, while Lithuania negates its international obligations in allowing people to claim asylum on European soil.

The increase in the incentive comes as earlier in 2021 thousands of people fleeing their home countries tried to cross the European border into Latvia, Lithuania or Poland. Lithuanian authorities denied allegations that they have illegally pushed-back nearly 8,900 people hoping to claim asylum. Since the beginning of the migration crisis, Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, has expelled more than 500 migrants who arrived via Belarus and over 3,000 remain in Lithuanian refugee centres.

In December 2021, Lithuania completed the processing of asylum claims submitted from those who crossed the border from Belarus. Only 54 of the 3,272 migrants who applied were granted refugee status. According to the Lithanian government, the cash incentive is not only supported by the European Commission, but will also be funded by the Commission. 

Sources and further reading: 

[1] Euronews (03 January 2022) Lithuania pays migrants €1,000 to return to Iraq. Available at: https://www.euronews.com/2022/01/02/lithuania-pays-migrants-1-000-to-return-to-iraq

[2] InfoMigrants (10 December 2021) Lithuania says migrants will be paid €1,000 to return home Available at: https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/37140/lithuania-says-migrants-will-be-paid-%E2%82%AC1000-to-return-home

[3] LRT (08 December 2021) Lithuania triples payouts to migrants for voluntary return. Available at: https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1559518/lithuania-triples-payouts-to-migrants-for-voluntary-return