Interior Minister Janis Dombrova criticized the work of the responsible services on asylum issues and stated that Latvia needs a stricter mechanism for identifying and expelling individuals who, in his opinion, abuse the international protection system.
After visiting the asylum seeker accommodation center in Mucenieki, Interior Minister Janis Dombrova stated that the current system allows illegal migrants to use asylum procedures to legalize their stay in the country.
According to the minister, Latvia must identify individuals who do not meet the criteria for international protection more quickly and ensure their expulsion.
Dombrova believes that the State Border Guard and the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs have not yet done everything possible to address this issue.
"It is necessary to establish a clear algorithm of actions so that such cases are promptly identified and do not lead to prolonged stays of people in Latvia," the minister stated.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, the asylum seeker accommodation center in Mucenieki is currently operating beyond its designed capacity: there are 455 people in a facility intended for 450. Another 66 asylum seekers are accommodated in the "Liepna" center in the Aluksne region.
The state spends about 22 euros per day to support one asylum seeker.
Since the beginning of the year, 490 asylum applications have been registered in Latvia. The majority of applicants have arrived from Somalia, Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
It is important to know: submitting an asylum application does not automatically grant refugee status. Each application undergoes verification, during which the grounds for granting international protection are assessed.
The minister also noted the everyday problems in the accommodation center and stated that some of its residents openly acknowledge the fact of illegally crossing the external border of the European Union.
The issue of migration is becoming one of the key topics for the new leadership of the Ministry of the Interior. Dombrova has already declared immigration restriction as his main political priority. In the near future, the ministry intends to prepare an action plan to implement the recommendations of the parliamentary investigative commission that studied issues of migration policy and control over the stay of foreigners in the country.
According to the Ministry of the Interior's plan, new measures should complicate the possibilities for illegal stay in Latvia and close schemes that, in the ministry's opinion, allow economic migrants to use asylum mechanisms to legalize their status.
Specific proposals for changing the approach to asylum and migration control issues are expected to be considered by the government in the coming months.
