Lithuanians divided over ways to curb migration, opinion poll finds

Lithuanians do not see one solution to migration flow from Belarus, while building a fence was seen as the most effective solution according to a recent opinion poll, Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT and Gytis Pankūnas report.

Over 4 000 migrants, mostly from Iraq, have entered Lithuania in 2021 moving into the country mainly over the national border with Belarus. The ways the Lithuanian government has chosen to restrict border violations is building a concertina fence along the Belarusian border and paying 300 euros to every migrant agreeing to return home.

A survey of 1,000 people was carried out by Nordstat pollster in Lithuania from August 5 to August 23. The results showed that 33% of respondents supported installing a fence along the border with Belarus.

17% of the respondents in the survey back pressing Iraq to suspend flights to Minsk, Belarus. Another 14% supported resettling migrants to other EU countries, while 12% agreed that the government should persuade migrants to return with money payments.

The least popular ideas in the poll to solve the migration crisis were negotiating with the Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko and accepting and integrating migrants in Lithuania. Neither of the options were selected by 11% of respondents.

The main question is why refugees have chosen Lithuania? Probably it’s the easier way to find an asylum? Probably Lithuanians are too kind to them? Probably other countries are not so kind to people who will get money from their taxes?

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