Although the Baltic States are far from the rebellious regions, the
increase in the number of asylum seekers is becoming more and more pronounced. Since Latvia,
Lithuania, and Estonia are
neighbouring countries, they seek similar approaches to the resolution of
various issues. In order to find the most successful solution for refugee
integration, an international conference ‘Asylum: What It Means in Latvia, Lithuania,
and Estonia?’
(„Patvērums – ko tas nozīmē Latvijā,
Lietuvā un Igaunijā?”) was organized on May 19 by the Shelter ‘Safe House’
(Patvērums „Drošā māja”), a
nongovernmental organization, the Soros Foundation - Latvia
under the project `Help Me Stay in Latvia!` („Palīdzi man palikt Latvijā!”), and European Refugee Fund (ERF)
under the project `I am staying in Latvia!` („Es palieku Latvijā!”) in association with the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. It was aimed at exploring the current situation in Lithuania, Estonia,
and Latvia
as well as answering the following questions: Is there an integration programme
for refugees who have been granted the right to stay in the country? Are the Baltic States ready to shelter refugees from other
countries or not?
Alvis Skenders (Alvis Šķenders), Board Member of the Shelter ‘Safe House’ said: “According to the information provided during the conference, integration issues are similar across the Baltic States. Lithuanians are one step ahead, though, as they have been working with actual integration programmes since 1997.”
Alfredas Nezabitauskas, representative of the Refugee Reception Centre
said that “in Lithuania
the leading institution for integration is the Refugee Centre, however, support
in integration matters is also provided by the local municipalities. In Lithuania
rights and obligations regarding refugee integration have been defined and
distributed between the public and municipal bodies. Nevertheless there are
problems - asylum seekers are very poorly motivated to learn Lithuanian, therefore
it is necessary to consider contributing financial resources to the state
language studies.”
Whereas Juhan Saharov, Estonian colleague from NGO ‘Johannes Mihkelson Centre’ listed the main problems as being “the lack of the refugee integration programme, low awareness level of refugees in the local residents, small numbers of staff as well as geographical location of the centre - it is 200 kilometres away from the capital. Johannes Mihkelson Centre provides support to the asylum seekers and continues its work with refugees. It helps achieve better results in integration. Motivation is a topical issue in Estonia as well - how to encourage asylum seekers and refugees to learn Estonian, cooperate with the institutions providing help.”
As the most important conclusion for Latvia A. Skenders stresses: “It is
essential to ensure continuity and succession of integration measures. The
current funding model makes us interrupt the support activities already
underway aimed at refugees and persons holding alternative status because there
is a gap of two to eleven months between project implementation. Thus clients
lose support and become hopeless and depressed. In order to improve the
situation, we offer knowledge acquired during three years of work of the Shelter
`Safe House` so that the Latvian state could develop a refugee integration
programme as soon as possible.”
During the regional seminars organized by ERF its
experts have come to the conclusion that in Latvia, generally, there are very
different views on refugees or no awareness at all. Therefore a lot of work is needed
to ensure information on the integration opportunities for immigrants in Latvia.
According to the data gathered by the Office of Citizenship and
Migration Affairs, the overall number of applicants for asylum in Latvia this
year is 70, 1 was granted a refugee status, and 6 more - an alternative status.
For comparison: since 1998 the total number of applicants for asylum in Latvia has been
437, of them 30 were granted a refugee status and 51 - an alternative status.
Last year Latvia also
sheltered five minors who entered Latvia without an adult escort.
According to the data shared by the Ministry of the Interior of Estonia, since 1997 the overall number of applicants for asylum in Estonia has been 206, including 36 in 2009, 30 in 2010 and as many as 20 in 2011 (as at 30.04.2011). Asylum seekers mostly come from Russia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkey, Belarus, and Georgia.
About the society „Shelter „Safe House””
The society “Shelter “Safe House”” was established on August 6, 2007 with the aim to develop support services to victims of human trafficking, legal immigrants, including asylum seekers, refugees and persons granted subsidiary protection status by ensuring the individual’s right to receive adequate assistance and defense; promoting rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of human trafficking into the society; creating interactive forms of training, and expanding cooperation with state and local government institutions, public and Christian organizations in Latvia and worldwide.
The NGO “Shelter “Safe House”” has acquired the right to provide state financed social rehabilitation services to victims of human trafficking.
2010th The Society received the Latvian Ministry of Interior of the Republic of gratitude for the important work of human trafficking prevention and control.
In January 2011 "Shelter "Safe House"" received the first time ever presented Ambassador`s Award for Innovation in Service. The award was presented by the Ambassador of the United States of America to Latvia Judith G. Garber. In March "Shelter "Safe House"" received an appreciation award from the Society integration Foundation of Latvia for emphasizing the social issues, as well for making contribution to work with asylum seekers and refugees.