On this page, you will find:
To find organisations working for LGBTQI+ rights, visit our Lithuania LGBTQI+ Resources page.
For Lithuania country of origin information (COI) experts, reports, commentaries, and relevant documents visit our Lithuania COI page.
Refugee protection
Click here to see the numbers and origins of refugees hosted by Lithuania.
The following sections contain information on the most important international treaties and agreements of which Lithuania is signatory, as well as national legislation relevant to the protection of refugees.
Lithuania is a party to both the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and to its 1967 Protocol. It has also accepted the UN Statelessness Conventions.
Regionally, Lithuania is a member of the European Union (EU). As such, it is subject to the EU framework on refugee protection, which is based upon the Schengen Borders Code (Regulation (EU) 2016/399), the Dubin Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 604/2013) and the Asylum Procedures Directive (Directive 2013/32/EU).
The national framework of refugee protection in Lithuania is based on the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens. It determines two distinct legal basis for international protection, namely refugee status and subsidiary protection, being the latter usually granted to persons who may face indiscriminate violence in situations of armed conflict occurring in their country of origin. Also, the Migration Department at the Ministry of Interior is the responsible organ for processing the asylum applications in Lithuania.
Legal aid organisations
Website
Address: Gedimino pr. 56, 01110 Vilnius
Tel: 8 800 22100 / (+370) 706 65105
Email: ombuds@lrski.lt
Opening Hours: from 8 am to 5 pm on Mondays – Thursdays, and from 8 am to 3.45 pm on Fridays (lunchtime: from 12 am to 12.45 pm).
The Seimas Ombudsman is a state official appointed by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania who protects human rights and freedoms, investigates the complainant‘s complaints about abuse of office by or bureaucracy of officials and seeks to upgrade public administration. The primary constitutional duty of the Seimas Ombudsmen is to protect a person’s right to good public administration securing human rights and freedoms, to supervise fulfilment by state authorities of their duty to serve the people properly. The Seimas Ombudsmen also carry out the national prevention of torture in places of detention in compliance with the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Organisations providing other support to refugees
Website
Address: Odminiu st. 12, LT-01122 Vilnius
Tel: +370 5 261 1014
Email: linas@vilnius.caritas.lt or ilma.skuodiene@vilnius.caritas.lt
Caritas (Lat. Charity) – is an international Catholic organization with a lot of faces. These include:
- International Aid Network, fighting poverty around the world;
- an organization that defends human rights and taking care of each individual applying for the preservation of dignity, regardless of race, religion, gender, and ethnicity;
- community focused help to promote human growth and development, accompanying and helping to overcome the crisis, strengthening and supporting operating.
Website
Address: A. Juozapavičiaus g. 10A. LT09311 Vilnius
Tel: (+370) 659 71 598
Email: legal@redcross.lt
Contact Person: Aiste Dumbryte
Email: aiste.dumbryte@redcross.lt
The Lithuanian Redcross provides legal, social and humanitarian aid to asylum seekers and recognised refugees. They also provide integration programs through trainings, trips, summer camps and leisure activities as well as operate a consulting center for foreigners in Lithuania. They also have an outreach program to train students, border officers and state officials on working with refugees and asylum-seekers.
They monitor conditions at the point of asylum in the border as well as forced returns/ deportations from Lithuania.
Lithuania LGBTQI+ Resources
Find organisations working for refugee LGBTQI+ rights in Lithuania.
Lithuania COI
Find Lithuania Country of Origin information (COI) experts, reports, commentaries, and relevant documents.
We are always looking to expand the resources on our platform. If you know about relevant resources, or you are aware of organisations and/or individuals to include in our directories, please get in touch.
Last updated June 2023