Lithuania lodged a complaint at the top UN court Monday seeking compensation from Belarus, including for a fence, over allegations Minsk has sent large numbers of migrants to their shared border.
Lithuania, its fellow Baltic state Latvia as well as Poland have all registered an unprecedented influx of migrants at their borders with Belarus since 2021.
The three countries have blamed Belarus and its ally Russia for what they call a deliberate hybrid operation to increase migratory pressure at the EU鈥檚 eastern border and thereby destabilise the bloc.
Lithuania, in its case against Belarus at the International Court of Justice, the United Nations鈥� top court, will seek compensation, including for the construction of the border fence on the Belarus border, the foreign ministry said
The Lithuanian government seeks to hold Belarus 鈥榬esponsible for organising the large-scale smuggling of migrants into Lithuania鈥� from 2021, the ministry said.
It cited the UN protocol against migrant smuggling, saying it had evidence 鈥榗onfirming the direct involvement of the Belarusian regime in the organisation of migrant flows鈥�.
Thousands of people attempted to cross into the European Union irregularly through that route.
Lithuania, Latvia and Poland erected barriers on their borders with Belarus to stem the migrant influx.
Dozens of migrant deaths have been reported at the EU鈥檚 border with Belarus, mostly in Poland, human rights group say.
The three countries have adopted a policy of so-called pushbacks, preventing migrants from making asylum claims and forcing them back across the border into Belarus.
