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State of emergency declared in Lithuanian regions bordering Belarus

The state of emergency was declared for one month, in areas within 5 kilometers from the country’s border with Belarus and in camps for illegal migrants

VILNIUS, November 10. /TASS/. The state of emergency, imposed by the Lithuanian parliament due to a migration crisis, came into force in regions bordering Belarus at midnight local time (01:00 Moscow time) on Wednesday.

So far, the state of emergency was declared for the period of one month, in areas within 5 kilometers from the country’s border with Belarus and in camps for illegal migrants from Asia and Africa, who managed to cross into Lithuania from the Belarusian territory.

All people, except local residents, can enter these zones only if they have special passes. Any kinds of public gatherings are prohibited. Illegal migrants who are staying at migrant camps will not be allowed to use cell phones and the Internet for any goal other than making requests to the official authorities.

More than 4,000 illegal migrants from Asia and Africa have been detained at the Lithuanian-Belarusian border since the beginning of 2021. This is 50 times more than in the whole of 2020. Vilnius believes that the migration crisis was encouraged by Minsk, and calls it a "hybrid action" against Lithuania for the support the Belarusian opposition.

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