OREANDA-NEWS. More than 700 foreigners have escaped from refugee camps and migration centers in Lithuania since the beginning of the year in an attempt to get to Western Europe and request asylum there. This is reported by Delfi with reference to the data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the republic.

According to the agency, to date, the security forces have managed to detain only 146 illegal immigrants who fled. According to most of them, people are driven to escape by poor living conditions and fears of refusal to receive asylum.

Most often, refugees illegally leave the camps in Rukla and Pabrad. The Lithuanian Interior Ministry has already promised to strengthen the protection of these centers in order to prevent further attempts to escape to other countries of the European Union (EU).

Earlier, the deputy of the Seimas of Lithuania Linas Jonauskas proposed to put in prison for 20 years those who participate in the organization of illegal migration. In his opinion, such a measure will be a signal that Lithuania does not intend to put up with such illegal activities.

The migration crisis on the eastern borders of the EU began at the end of May. Large groups of illegal migrants from Africa and the Middle East who have found themselves on Belarusian territory are storming the borders of Lithuania, Poland and Latvia in the hope of obtaining asylum in the European Union. The EU blames the Belarusian authorities and the President of the Republic Alexander Lukashenko personally for what is happening. It is assumed that they use the national tour operator "Tsentrkurort" to ferry illegal immigrants to the borders of Western countries and earn money from it.