Sienos Grupė

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 Wading through wetlands has been replaced by equally viscous wading through legislative processes. Confrontations with officials at check-points have been replaced by confrontation in courts, trying, via strategic litigation, to patch up the flaws in Lithuania‘s migration and asylum policies.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