Solidarity with Medininkai
Start: 2022
As part of the emergence of new escape routes via Belarus, refugees also arrived in Lithuania in the summer of 2021 and were detained in the Medininkai camp under conditions that violated human rights.
Solidarity with Medininkai is an alliance of various initiatives and individuals who have been active in the field of flight and migration in Berlin and Brandenburg for some time, and people directly affected by the closed camp in Medininkai, Lithuania, on the border with Belarus. Together, they want to improve the current situation of those affected in Medininkai.
Around 300 migrants are detained in the closed camp in Medininkai. They reported on the conditions of their detention. They spoke of a fundamental lack of food and hygiene products, inadequately heated rooms, cold showers, a lack of medical care and a lack of information about their rights, as well as the everyday violence and discrimination they experience in the camp. Minors are denied access to education and special protection, and pregnant women and sick people receive inadequate or no medical care. The women and LGBT*I*Q people affected have protested against the inhumane conditions under which they live in Medininkai and are being criminalized for doing so.
The aim of the project is to show solidarity with those affected and to take legal action to bring about a lasting change in the situation for all people in the closed camps in Lithuania and to end the detention of people on the run. The question of whether and who could usefully file a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights against the Republic of Lithuania is to be clarified with expert lawyers and organizations.
