Linas Jegelevčius for the BNN
Vilnius police and prosecutors have commenced probe over allegations of sexual abuse against asylum seekers in a foreigners’ registration centre in Medininkai, close to Lithuania’s border with Belarus. A male psychologist employed by the Border Guard Service (VSAT), who formerly worked for the Lithuanian Red Cross, is suspected of raping vulnerable male migrants on multiple occasions.
According to Kristina Mišinienė, head of the Centre for Combating Human Trafficking (KOPŽI), the victims allege they were abused both in their rooms and in the alleged perpetrator’s office.
«He told me that he could order migration authorities to send me back home, but he could also help me to stay, so I have to obey him,» according to one of the young victims whose testimony was shared with KOPŽI and then with the local media. «I was convinced that he was a very powerful border official, he was dressed that way, I don’t speak English, I couldn’t understand his position, I was afraid to resist him, he promised to sort out my documents ‘properly».
«Indeed, it is a delicate matter. The Vilnius County Police and the Vilnius County Prosecutor’s Office are carrying out investigation. The person has worked only mere two weeks for our service. There were reports that the person is a senior official or/and a statute officer, but that is not true – he was employed as a staffer on contractual basis,» Giedrius Mišutis, spokesman of the VSAT, told BNN.
According to him, investigators will answer all the questions raised during the pre-trial investigation, but probe will be subtle due to its nature. «Both the alleged victims, the ostensible perpetrator and the investigators understand the subtlety of the matter,» the official said.
Mišutis says that, in the VSAT-administered migrant accommodation facilities in Pabradė, Medininkai, and Kybartai, the officers «keenly» monitor the tenants, involving representatives of NGOs, the Red Cross and other non-state organisations.
«The migrants communicate with them, especially with psychologists and social workers, nearly on daily basis. They are not isolated and ill-treated as some want to portray the centres,» the VSAT Communications head emphasised.
Luka Lesauskaitė, spokeswoman for the Lithuanian Red Cross, says that at the time of the alleged abuses, the suspected perpetrator was no longer working for the organisation.
«He is a former employee of the Red Cross, and to our knowledge, he is not currently working for the VSAT either. He was working for the VSAT when we received the complaint,» Lesauskaitė said to LRT.lt
According to her, the suspect had been working as a psychologist in mobile Red Cross teams for about half a year.
Mišinienė, of the Centre for Combating Human Trafficking, insists that the situation raises concerns about Lithuania’s asylum policy and its enforcement.
«The dynamics in a closed facility, where the people cannot access help from outside, ask for assistance, or withdraw from a situation that threatens them, creates the conditions for them to fall victims to those with power and bad intentions. Sexual violence against people who are locked up, who cannot defend themselves, who do not understand our language or our laws, is the most disgusting form of this so-called managed crisis,» she said.
According to Mišinienė, the responsibility should also fall on the leadership of the VSAT, which failed to properly supervise one of its employees. Moreover, this cast doubts on the quality of psychological counselling that people in migrant facilities are receiving, she noted.
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But Mišutis rejects the reprimand, saying that the psychologist, as everyone in the VSAT, passed background check before being hired and there were no red flags.
«His qualifications were in line with the service’s requirements and standards. There was no reason whatsoever not to employ him, especially that the VSAT needs psychologists badly,» he accentuated.
Asked whether the VSAT had taken measures to prevent similar abuse, its spokesman Mišutis said this was an exceptional case.
«Every case is investigated thoroughly. I don’t recall any similar case arising at all. But if there is misconduct, we hold briefings, training, various measures, interviews. This is an isolated case, but we took it seriously,» he said.
According to him, the victims were moved to separate premises in the camp.
Almost 4,200 irregular migrants, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, crossed into Lithuania from Belarus illegally last year. Lithuania and other Western countries accuse the Minsk regime of orchestrating the unprecedented migration influx, calling it hybrid aggression.
After entering Lithuania, the migrants were initially accommodated in various places across the country and were later moved to five registration centres, which currently still house 2,797 people.
Last October, a report by the Ombudsmen’s Office of the Lithuanian parliament on irregular migrants’ living conditions in Lithuania, slammed the authorities for «inhuman and degrading» conditions in which the migrants were being kept in Lithuania.
It said, in Lithuania, irregular migrants sleep in damp, cold, and crowded rooms. They lack proper food, hot water, and medication. Special needs are ignored, while some do not even know how to apply for asylum.
Notably, some migrants belonged to the LGBTQ+ community and were housed together with foreigners who were homophobic due to their religious beliefs or other views, thus raising possibilities of their sexual abuse.
According to the report, the initial assessment by VSAT does not involve questions on migrants’ sexual orientation or gender identity and thus their special needs are not identified. Assessments on whether a certain person is a victim of human trafficking, rape, torture, or psychological abuse are also skipped.
According to the Ombudsmen, restricting migrants’ freedoms without providing adequate conditions violated the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Lithuanian authorities say the migrant conditions have been improved since the Ombudsmen report was published.
BNN ANALYSES | Lithuania’s Border Guard Service psychologist allegedly preys on migrants in registration centre facility
