Countries should let migrants apply for asylum and make sure each application is evaluated individually, said UN deputy secretary general for human rights affairs Ilze Brands-Kehris about the migration crisis on the Belarusian-Latvian border in an interview to Latvijas Radio.
The UN representative said it is possible some of these people have no rights to request asylum. Nevertheless, all applications should be reviewed individually.
The situation on the inside of Belarus is not leaning towards improvement, said Brands-Kehris, adding that the situation in the country is desperate.
Brands-Kehris explains that every country that has people staying within their territory has a duty to provide them with individual human rights. She also admits there is an issue whose jurisdiction they are within.
As previously reported, Latvian government decided to declare a state of emergency on the Latvian-Belarusian border in response to increasing numbers of illegal immigrants.
According to Latvian officials, the efforts by Aleksandr Lukashenko’s regime in Belarus to push third country citizens to Latvia, Lithuania and Poland is considered a hybrid war.
UN deputy secretary general: countries should let people apply for asylum
