Iraqi refugee family's appeal rejected by Vilnius court

April 5, 2016, saw the Vilnius Administrative Court reject a case from an Iraqi refugee family who were relocated to the Lithuanian capital under the European Union’s refugee relocation programme in December 2015. 

The family appealed against the Lithuanian Migration Department’s decision to grant them temporary legal protection instead of the refugee status they wanted. 

In Lithuania, refugee status grants permanent residency whereas legal protection provides temporary residence. However, financial payments and other social benefits remain the same. 

Regarding the decision to dismiss the case, the court said via press release: “The asylum seekers failed to provide sufficient arguments regarding individual persecution directed directly against them and their minor children.”

Judge Arunas Kaminskas also told reporters that the Migration Department had adequately assessed the family’s situation in Iraq. 

The Iraqi family arrived in Lithuania from Greece in mid-December.