Ylva Johansson, the EU’s commissioner for home affairs, said in Vilnius on Friday that pushing migrants back at borders is “illegal,” according to state media, MAP.
“The pushbacks are clearly illegal. People have the right to seek asylum,” the EU commissioner said just before a conference.
The EU’s eastern border – mainly between Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland – has been crossed or attempted by thousands of migrants from the Middle East since last summer.
There have been around 8,200 people denied entry into Lithuania due to what aid groups refer to as unlawful denials.
The governments of the three countries have defended this policy as the only way to stop the influx.
These three countries have asked for European funds to finance the construction of barriers along their borders with Belarus, a country the West accuses of orchestrating the migration.
But Johansson opposes this funding. “ If member states wish to build fences they can do so, but it has been a long-standing position of the Commission not to fund walls or barbed wire,” she said.
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