During a meeting with Saeima Citizenship, Migration and Social Cohesion Committee, the chief of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) Maira Roze said: despite the state of emergency on the Latvian-Belarusian border and efforts by Latvian State Border Guard to prevent illegal border crossing attempts, the number of asylum seekers in the country is very high.
By the 12th of May 2023 Latvian authorities received asylum requests from 372 people: 161 from Syria, 46 from Afghanistan, 51 from Iraq, 17 from Bangladesh, 14 from Belarus, 15 from Russia and three from Ukraine.
“Many of the people who request asylum and are put in Mucenieki asylum centre leave after a couple of days, because Latvia is not their destination – they go deeper into Europe. The centre is not a closed institution, and they use that,” said Roze. As of the 8th of May there were 137 people staying at Mucenieki asylum centre.
79 Russian citizens have submitted applications and they are in various stages of review. In many cases the review term is extended, including in order to receive permission from the State Security Service.
Also read: Former commander of the Wagner Group has decided to return to Russia
Number of asylum seekers in Latvia is very high, PMLP chief says
