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Migrants in Lithuania offered illegal trips to Western Europe for up to 8,500 euro

According to Lithuania’s LRT radio station, some of the routes are supervised by Arabic speakers who ask migrants to pay for their trip through so-called insurance companies based in Turkey

VILNIUS, August 12. /TASS/. Those involved in the illegal migration trade in Lithuania are offering to take migrants to Western European countries for a fee of up to 8,500 euros, Lithuania’s LRT radio station reported on Thursday, citing its journalistic investigation.

Reporters found out that the illegal activities involved Lithuanian transport operators working in the field of international cargo traffic. According to the news outlet, some of the routes are supervised by Arabic speakers who ask migrants to pay for their trip through so-called insurance companies based in Turkey. "It allows them to avoid using the regular banking system and make sure that there are no traces of the financial transactions," the radio station said.

"A trip from Lithuania to Germany will cost 3,000 to 8,500 euro. The organizers promise to provide fake IDs to those who pay the highest amount," LRT added.

Over 4,000 illegal migrants have been detained on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border since the beginning of the year, 50 times more than in 2020. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in late May that the country had served as a barrier preventing illegal migrants from entering neighboring countries but given the West’s political pressure on Minsk, Belarus would have to think if it was reasonable to continue like that.