Sienos Grupė

This report analyzes data on pushbacks from EU member states to third countries in 2024, highlighting ongoing violations of international and EU law.

It draws from NGO reports, research groups, human rights organizations, UN agencies, government services and interviews with organizations active in Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Greece, Poland, Croatia, Finland, and Bulgaria. In total, 120.457 pushbacks were recorded, underscoring the persistence of this practice.

Overall, the trend of normalizing pushbacks persists, requiring stronger enforcement and greater accountability from both member states and EU institutions. The report concludes with recommendations for the EU, its member states, and Frontex to address these ongoing human rights violations.

Protecting Rights at Borders (PRAB) is an initiative of protection and legal aid groups that focus on ensuring human rights are upheld at the EU's external and internal borders. The members of PRAB have a well-established field presence in the countries of operation, which allows them direct access to victims who have experienced pushbacks and significant experience in strategic litigation.

This report presents the data on migrant deaths on the EU-Belarusian border since the traffic on this route intensified and the humanitarian crisis in the border area began in the summer of 2021. By the end of March 2024, 116 border deaths had been documented in four countries (Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland) and at least another 26 cases had been reported by migrants in testimonies.

2023 was not the first year that people came to Lithuania‘s borders in search of safety. However, 2023 was the first year that the Sienos Grupė functioned as an officially registered non-governmental non-profit organization for a whole year.

In 2023, the migration routes turned north, through Latvia, so we spent less time in Lithuanian forests. Wading through wetlands has been replaced by equally viscous wading through legislative processes. Confrontations with officials at check-points have been replaced by confrontation in courts, trying, via strategic litigation, to patch up the flaws in Lithuania‘s migration and asylum policies.

Sometimes humanitarian aid turned into a search for missing people. Sometimes the search for a missing person turned into the identification and burial of remains. Cemetery maintenance and a video call from a distant country to the cold Lithuanian land for the prayers of loved ones - we hardly expected such missions when we set up this helpline.

Eventually we realised that the undocumented people were being abandoned not only in our forests but also in our cities. Routine things like job search, medical care, legal services, banking bills - for some of them are difficult thresholds to cross, and we are trying to help.

We used to meet to celebrate holidays, taste each other‘s traditional food, enjoy newborn babies, learn Lithuanian and just smile at those fragile moments when everything is fine.

Our motto has remained the same since 2021: „We dream to be no longer needed“... But for now - we invite you to read about Sienos Grupė‘s year 2023 in our first activity report.

report is currently in production

report is currently in production