Refugees in Belgrade, illustrative photo
The EU-aided project on establishing migration centers in Belarus may be launched in 2017.
“The implementation of the project is expected to start during the current year,” the state-run newspaper Belarus Today reports with reference to the EU Delegation to Belarus.
According to them, placing ‘any refugees from the EU’ in the would-be centers of temporary accommodation is ruled out: the centers will only be used to accommodate illegal migrants caught in Belarus. No refugees will be brought from the EU to stay there.
Migrants will reportedly stay at the centers until all procedures needed for the establishment of their identities and/or their deportation are completed. Illegal migrants apprehended in Belarus are currently held at detention centers run by the police or border control units.
The European Commission will donate €7 million to Belarus to help it establish accommodation centers for illegal migrants. The funding will be provided in the framework of the European Neighborhood Instrument based on an agreement to be signed by the interior ministry, the European Commission and the Belarus office of the International Organization for Migration.
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belsat.eu, photo by Lars Pehrson / SvD / TT / Forum
