Countries should ensure opportunity to seek asylum - UN assistant secretary general

  • 2021-09-27
  • LETA/TBT Staff

RIGA - Countries should ensure migrants the opportunity to seek asylum, and individually assess each application, said UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ilze Brands-Kehre in an interview with the Latvian publc radio, assessing the situation on the Belarus-Latvia border.

She said that possibly many of the migrants have no rights for asylum, but their applications should be accepted and assessed individually.

The situation in Belarus is not moving in the positive direction, and the overall situation in the country is alarming.

Brands-Kehre said that each country, in the territory of which there are people, have the duty to ensure that human rights of these people are met.

As reported, taking into consideration the steeply increasing numbers of illegal immigrants trying to cross into Latvia from Belarus, the government has declared a state of emergency that will run from August 11 until November 10 in the following municipalities: Ludza Region, Kraslava Region, Augsdaugava Region, and the City of Daugavpils.