Head of the UN Refugee Agency for the Nordic and Baltic Countries Visits The Migration Department
Annika Sandlund, the newly appointed Head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for the Nordic and Baltic Countries, officially visited the Migration Department.
The participants of the meeting with Evelina Gudzinskaitė, Director of the Migration Department, exchanged the latest information on migration trends in the region, discussed issues related to asylum seekers and stateless persons, and possibilities for further cooperation.
Ms Sandlund was most interested in the situation of Ukrainian war refugees who had fled to Lithuania after the Russian aggression, the most relevant statistical indicators, and the case of such foreigners in our country.
The guest was also interested in Lithuania’s experience in dealing with perhaps the most serious crisis of recent times — the hybrid attack initiated by the Belarusian regime, which led to the diversion of large numbers of illegal migrants to our country and subsequently also to neighbouring Latvia and Poland.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Stockholm cooperates with the Nordic and Baltic countries — Lithuania, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Norway, Finland, and Sweden. This coordinates joint activities with their authorities and governments, non-governmental organisations, and civil society to assist and protect refugees, forcibly displaced persons, and stateless persons.