Attachments
KEY FIGURES
• Around 90,000 applications for temporary protection by refugees from Ukraine since February 2022.
• Current estimated presence: 45,000 individuals.*
• 117 individuals granted refugee status in 2024.
• 297 asylum applications lodged by end of Q2 2024.
• 2,283 stateless persons in Lithuania as of 1 January 2024.
Operational context
Since the outset of the war in Ukraine in early 2022, the Lithuanian Government and civil society have responded with steadfast solidarity towards refugees from Ukraine, including by providing access to employment and all public services. While immediate access to employment, education, and availability of mainstream social benefits and services have created favourable conditions for integration of refugees from Ukraine, factors such as lack of local language skills, de-skilling in workplaces, the breakdown of family units and uncertainties about the length of stay, may hinder integration into local society. Since 2023, Lithuania has been included in the Ukraine Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP), complementing the government-led response. In 2024, a new plan has been launched, coordinated by UNHCR and developed by 18 humanitarian organizations in Lithuania.
Following the increase in refugee and migrant arrivals via Belarus to Lithuania in 2021, Lithuania introduced temporary measures limiting access to asylum. In April 2023, the adopted amendments to the State Border Law further reinforced the restrictions at the border. UNHCR is concerned that the law authorizes pushbacks and may lead to individuals not being granted effective access to territory and the right to seek asylum.