Raminta Karauskienė, chairperson of Kapčamestis municipality (Lazdijai district in Lithuania), does not hide the recent concern of local residents. This is due to the influx of migrants rushing to Lithuania, writes Delfi.lt.
“There are people who have met groups of migrants, both large and small, while picking mushrooms in the forest. One such case took place near Lake Ancia, 10 km away from the border. A woman was picking berries when she saw four black men”, – said the head of the community.
According to the woman, the illegal migrants approached her and started talking.
“They said ‘touristo’, ‘natura’, kind of like tourists in the countryside. Since when are the forests of Capchamestis included in the recreational areas? Asked which way is Paris. Another was in the woods. The third one is in the vicinity of Lepalingis, at night four black men came to a homestead located in the forest. The fact is that some are detained, while the others go inland”, – said Karauskienė.
Rimantas Pileckas, head of the Kapčamėtas Nursery told about the meeting with more than ten migrants. “Nursery workers were going to work last week, I think it was early Friday morning, around 6 o’clock. Near Pertakas, in the forest, they met 10-12 black men. Some of them, seeing women, rushed into the forest, and women, covering their faces with scarves, were asking for directions to Paris. It is more than 6 km to the border from this place,” said Pileckas.
Last Friday night a huge group of migrants was detained in Kapčamestis. They were accommodated on the premises of a primary school. Both cases were reported to the police and border guards. However, although the large group of aliens was apprehended, nothing is yet known about the four men who were part of it. Lazdi district head Ausma Miskinene said that these are real stories – not all migrants can be apprehended.
“This means that today we cannot guarantee to our residents that migrants will not come into their courtyards. So far, thank God, there have been no incidents. But there are no guarantees that there won’t be in the future either”, – the official admitted.
She made no secret of the fact that the uninvited guests are already demonstrating a difference in culture. “The biggest challenge is to explain that no plastic or hair from combs should be thrown into toilets, and that toilets are not meant for foot washing. Unfortunately, this is a bare fact, not an attempt to offend migrants. Since Friday, our plumbers have been going to the school every day to clean the clogged sewer pipes”, – Miskinene said.
Border guards also admit that they do not manage to apprehend all migrants.
“They have been unsuccessful in finding about 1%; it is likely that they have continued onward. Perhaps, they want to go to Poland”, – said Vidas Machaitis, deputy head of the State Border Protection Service.
Aleksei Dzermant, the Belarusian political analyst, writes that the most interesting thing is not how many migrants were detained at the border, but how many of them have safely penetrated deep into Lithuania.
“Judging by the fact that the border on the Lithuanian side is poorly guarded, we can assume that only 20-30 percent of those who cross it are actually detained. That is several thousand natives of Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia already roam Lithuania. It is clear that some of them will stay in Lithuania for a long time, for one reason or another. This means that the Lithuanian people and the state must prepare for a major cultural transformation”, – Dzermant writes.
“A saying for the new Lithuania: when you are very afraid of green men, black ones will come to you”, – the political scientist sneers.