Lithuanian border guards detain five illegal migrants at Vilnius Airport

Lithuanian border guards intercepted five individuals suspected of illegal migration at Vilnius Airport over the weekend. The group, comprising citizens of Algeria and Morocco, were attempting to board flights to France and Germany.

During a selective check at the departure terminal, officers identified three individuals who were scheduled to fly to Nice. These individuals did not possess documents authorizing their stay in Lithuania or confirming their identity. However, they had boarding passes and photos of asylum seeker identification documents issued by a Latvian center on their mobile phones.

Initial investigations suggest the individuals arrived in Belarus, illegally crossed the border into Latvia, and were apprehended there. After applying for asylum in Latvia, they reportedly left their accommodation center without waiting for a decision and traveled to Vilnius to fly to France.

Border guards detained the individuals and transferred them to the Migration Department at Vilnius Airport. Subsequently, two more individuals, identified as Egyptian citizens aged 20 and 26, were detained on Sunday at the Schengen departure terminal while attempting to fly to Berlin. One possessed a flight ticket under a false name. These individuals had also absconded from an asylum seeker accommodation center near Riga and traveled to Vilnius by train.