Lithuania’s ‘safe haven’ narrative vs. the state practice of Belarusian refugee expulsion (2019–2025)
In hun publieke uitspraken blijven de Litouwse autoriteiten en ambtenaren Litouwen presenteren als een ‘veilige haven’ en het ‘vriendelijkste en aantrekkelijkste EU-land’ voor Wit-Russen die op de vlucht zijn voor politieke vervolging en militaire bedreigingen onder het dictatoriale regime van president Alexander Loekasjenko.
Statistische gegevens uit de periode 2019-2025, die de NGO Our House (Nash Dom) analyseerde, laten echter precies het tegenovergestelde beeld zien. Er is een stabiel patroon van uitwijzingen ontstaan, wat leidt tot secundaire remigratie van Wit-Russische politieke vluchtelingen vanuit Litouwen naar andere EU-landen en zelfs naar regio’s buiten het Schengengebied.
Lithuania justifies its increasingly hostile and xenophobic policy toward Belarusians by claiming that it “has the right to defend itself” and is merely “protecting the EU from Belarusian spies.”
Yet, according to official judicial and open-source data, no criminal or espionage cases have been initiated or publicly registered against Belarusian citizens in Lithuania on charges of working “for Belarus or Russia.”
Despite extensive rhetoric linking Belarusians with national-security threats, there are no such public cases.
In Lithuania today, prosecutions for espionage in favour of the Belarusian KGB (nvdr: de Wit-Russische geheime dienst) or the Russian FSB involve Lithuanians, Ukrainians, or other nationalities — but not a single Belarusian has appeared in court on such charges.
Between 2019 and 2024, approximately 77,000 Belarusians attempted to legalise their stay in Lithuania (according to the Lithuanian Migration Department). As of 1 January 2025, the actual number of Belarusians residing in Lithuania was only 57,500.
This discrepancy of almost 20,000 Belarusians reflects secondary re-emigration and informal administrative pressure pushing Belarusians out of Lithuania.
In 2024, for every new Belarusian arrival, almost two were leaving.
The officially declared image of Lithuania as a ‘safe haven’ for Belarusians is therefore not supported by demographic balance. In reality, Lithuania functions as a transit hub and a source of secondary re-emigration.
By all major indicators for 2023–2024, Lithuania has become the most toxic EU jurisdiction for Belarusian refugees: population growth has turned into active expulsion, ‘protection gates’ have narrowed, and integration has been replaced by discouragement.
Our monitoring report with detailed Lithuanian migration statistics. The link to the English version is below:
Between the Promise of Asylum and the Practice of Expulsion: Lithuania’s Humanitarian Paradox for Belarusians – Our House/Наш дом – Lithuania’s “Safe Haven” Narrative vs. the State Practice of Belarusian Refugee Expulsion https://ndbelarus.com/2025/10/20/between-the-promise-of-asylum-and-the-practice-of-expulsion-lithuanias-humanitarian-paradox-for-belarusians/
Olga Karatch
Our House, Pamedes gatve 6, Buivydiskes v., Vilnius, Lithuania
Belarusian Prisoners for Peace in Belarus
On December 1st, the world has been marking the Day of Prisoners for Peace for over six decades. This day serves as an expression of solidarity with those who have been imprisoned for refusing to participate in war on the grounds of conscience.
It reminds us of the fate of anti-war activists who were jailed for non-violent actions aimed at preventing violence and aggression, including disrupting war preparations and preventing the army from participating in the killing of civilians.
In Belarus, in 2020, Alexander Lukashenko’s regime attempted to use the army to suppress peaceful protests and to commit violence against Belarusian citizens.
Conscripts were handed weapons and sent to the streets, with a prelude of inciting hatred toward the protesters — peaceful demonstrators were portrayed as ‘agents of the West’ or ‘intelligence operatives’. These young, often poorly trained and uneducated men found themselves on the frontlines of repression, leading to tragedy.
One such event was the murder on August 11, 2020, in Brest, when conscript soldier Roman Gavrilov simply shot a peaceful passerby, Gennady Shutov, in the back of the head. An eyewitness to this murder, Alexander Kordyukov, was sentenced to 10 years in prison to silence him as a witness to the crime.
However, there were those who dared to stand up against the violence and refused to be part of this military machine of terror.
Belarusian soldiers who resisted their army’s involvement in the killing of peaceful civilians were charged with treason and sentenced to long prison terms. We call on you to support these brave individuals and advocate for their release.
These men have become symbols of courage and resistance in Belarus
All of them ended up in prison for refusing to be part of criminal violent actions and for trying to stop the violence.
Additionally, in recent years, Belarus has become an increasingly serious trigger for security threats across the region. One of the most alarming factors is the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
However, in the context of Belarus’s authoritarian regime, where truth is rarely achieved and where information is strictly controlled and manipulated by the state, exposing any sensitive information about the placement of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus is critical and necessary.
It is in this context that we must view the story of Grzegorz Gavel, a Polish monk who was officially arrested for attempting to steal and publicize documents related to Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus during the Russian-Belarusian military drills West-2025.
While we cannot say for sure whether he actually tried to obtain and publish documents related to nuclear weapons, if so, his actions could be seen as an important and heroic step in the fight for peace and security in the region.
This is the story of a man who, despite his religious and humanitarian work, found himself trapped by a repressive system that does not tolerate those who try to reveal the truth. Grzegorz Gavel now faces the death penalty in Belarus.
We urge you to support them by sending letters and continue to fight for their release. Their stories, along with addresses for correspondence, can be found here: https://ndbelarus.com/2025/12/05/belarusian-prisoners-for-peace-in-belarus/
In solidarity, Our House
On the case of Belarusian conscientious objector Hleb Smirnov in Lithuania: Migration authorities reconsider their decision
We would like to share an update on the situation of Belarusian conscientious objector Hleb Smirnov, who is currently in Lithuania as an applicant for political asylum.
Hleb Smirnov is a Belarusian conscientious objector. He was previously denied political asylum in Lithuania and subsequently faced an immediate risk of deportation to a Belarusian prison due to his refusal to perform military service and his participation in the 2020 protests in Belarus.
Together with Hleb, we submitted a renewed application for political asylum in Lithuania.
This process has been accompanied by severe stress for him. Hleb was forcibly placed in a closed refugee detention center, where he spent three days. With the help of a lawyer, we were able to secure his release and get him out of the facility.
However, the very fact of being briefly detained without access to a phone or contact with the outside world became a serious ordeal for him.
Lithuanian migration authorities informed Hleb that a decision on his status in Lithuania was to be made on November 3, 2025 — whether he would be granted any form of legal stay in the country or whether a negative decision would be issued, followed by deportation to Belarus.
At that moment, we reached out to many of you with a request to write letters of support for Hleb. Our reasoning was simple: in the case of a positive decision, such letters could not cause harm, and in the case of a negative one, they could play a critically important role in saving Hleb.
On December 16, more than a month and a half has passed, yet no decision has been made in Hleb’s case. The process has effectively been put on hold by the Lithuanian migration authorities.
This directly indicates that an initial negative scenario — another refusal of political asylum — was most likely under consideration, but intervention and international attention changed the dynamics of the case.
The letters of solidarity sent to the migration authorities and to the Lithuanian Ombudsperson for Human Rights played a real role. Even formal responses, including those from the Ombudsperson’s office, meant that Hleb’s case was brought into the spotlight and required more careful and balanced consideration by the migration authorities.
Migration officials were forced to act more cautiously and began to hesitate.
As a result, Hleb was referred for a medical and social assessment to evaluate his vulnerability. Hleb has suffered from several medical conditions since birth, which had previously not been properly taken into account during decision-making.
The assessment center officially confirmed his vulnerabilities and medical limitations. Previously, migration authorities had never referred him for such evaluations, despite having access to his full medical documentation.
Additional complications arise from changes in Belarusian legislation. Until February 2023, Hleb had a deferment from military service on medical grounds.
Following amendments to the law, this deferment was revoked, and given his age, he is now subject to conscription. For a Belarusian conscientious objector, this means a direct risk of criminal prosecution and imprisonment.
At present, we continue to await a decision in Hleb’s case. Additional letters of support have been prepared, and if necessary, we will once again call for solidarity. It is already clear that collective action matters in protection efforts.
Even when it seems that an individual letter cannot change anything, in practice it is precisely these concrete actions that force the system to stop, reconsider, and doubt.
Belarusian male voices against war are critically important
Hleb is one of those young and principled voices that must not be silenced behind the walls of a Belarusian prison. Unfortunately, today Lithuania continues to produce new Belarusian political prisoners through deportations, and this process must be stopped.
We do not give up. Thanks to your support and solidarity letters, something has happened that had not been achieved before: migration authorities officially referred Hleb for a vulnerability assessment for the first time.
The assessment has been completed, and Hleb’s vulnerability has been officially confirmed. This is a concrete and meaningful result.
We will continue to keep you informed about developments and to fight for the protection of Hleb Smirnov and other Belarusian conscientious objectors and deserters who face the threat of deportation to Belarus.
Olga Karatch, The Our House Team
Olga Karatch, director of the organisation Our House, has given a long and detailed interview to ‘Tertio’, Belgium’s leading Catholic weekly https://ndbelarus.com/2025/11/07/olga-karach-in-tertio-the-leading-catholic-magazine-in-belgium/
Lees ook:
– The European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO) urged Lithuania to grant asylum to Belarusian objector Hleb Smirnou https://ndbelarus.com/2025/11/06/ebco-appeals-for-asylum-for-belarusian-conscientious-objector/
– Monitoring: Mass Departure of Belarusian Men of Conscription Age After the Beginning of the War (2022-2025) https://ndbelarus.com/2025/10/15/monitoring-mass-departure-of-belarusian-men-of-conscription-age-after-the-beginning-of-the-war-2022-2025/
– Lithuanian Court Practice in Cases Concerning “Threats to National Security” (2022–2025) https://ndbelarus.com/2025/12/05/lithuanian-court-practice-in-cases-concerning-threats-to-national-security-2022-2025/
– Polish Monk Detained in Belarus on Espionage Charges https://ndbelarus.com/2025/12/03/polish-monk-detained-in-belarus-on-espionage-charges/
Lees verder (inhoud december 2025)
