EU – Baltic States, Legislation, Lithuania, Society

The proposed amendments to the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens were backed by 66 lawmakers, eight were against and 22 abstained.

The decision on the relocation of foreigners will be made by the Government of Lithuania, and the country's Migration Department will subsequently decide on individual cases of every foreigner who has been selected for relocation.

The department will have up to 24 hours from the arrival of a relocated foreigner to Lithuania to make a decision on their asylum application.

"Relocated persons will have to be granted a status over the course of 24 hours. There are two statuses –a refugee and temporary protection," Arturas Paulauskas, chairman of the Seimas Committee on National Security and Defense, said.

The Migration Department will also be able to recognize the refugee status granted to a relocated person by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

According to Paulauskas, the existing law has been amended taking into account the new EU directive aimed at creating a common refugee relocation system in the EU.

Lithuanian has pledged to take in 1,105 refugees from Syria, Iraq and Eritrea. The Lithuanian government hopes that the first refugees will arrive early next year.