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LITHUANIA
Detention
A 2001 regulation relating to the accommodation of aliens at detention or registration centres
requires that asylum seekers are segregated from other detainees, and makes provision for
detainees’ rights and duties. According to the Lithuanian Red Cross, asylum seekers are still
co-mingled with criminal detainees. 6
In practice, however, only few asylum seekers are detained. In 2002, one asylum seeker was
detained, whereas in 2001, 32 asylum seekers were held in detention. Of the 32 asylum seekers,
31 were Afghans, who were held in detention for the maximum period of a year in order to
ascertain whether they had used forged identity documents. 7
The main detention centre is the Aliens Registration Centre in Pabrade. The centre in Pabrade is
a closed detention facility. However, as migrants may be detained for 48 hours generally, without
a Court decision, they may also be detained at available facilities at the local police station or
at the airport.
Conditions in detention facilities are reported to have improved, but are still poor in contrast to
the EU standard, due to financial difficulties, and because refugees from different cultures and
religions are hosted closely together. The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
reports that officials have treated persons in custody like criminals, and have used excessive
force even in cases where a detainee did not resist. 8 Health care is also not properly ensured.
Generally, the Lithuanian detention facilities do not comply with international standards, and are
widely criticized by human rights associations.
Prosecution
In 1999, the Lithuanian government updated the 1997 approved rules on registration of all foreigners,
who are banned from entering Lithuania. This computerized list includes foreigners
who have committed offences according to Lithuanian legislation and therefore have been banned
from re-entry; and is managed by the Migration Department in the Ministry of Interior.
Operational Steps for Involuntary Return
If a foreigner is detained for illegal stay in Lithuania, he/she is held in the Aliens Registration
Centre, under guarded supervision, until deportation can be executed. Expulsion orders are
enforced immediately, if possible; at the latest within ten days after the decision has been taken,
unless there are obstacles to the execution of the removal, such as invalid travel documents,
illness, etc. As with other receiving countries, Lithuania faces the problem of migrants who
cannot be deported because of the lack of travel documents or an agreement on readmission.
In practice, the Migration Department can review expulsion cases when expulsion is not possible
and issue a new decision, e.g. to grant a residence permit on humanitarian grounds if new
circumstances are presented.
Article 37 of the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens stipulates:
An order of the Ministry of the Interior or an institution authorized by it for expulsion of an alien
from the Republic of Lithuania may be appealed in court within seven days after the date of service