Latvia - June 2023

The Saeima adopted legal amendments authorising border guards to prevent irregular entries at the border, outside of the locations and procedures required for legal entry, including by use of force. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed concerns that the amendments effectively authorise pushbacks of irregular migrants, and therefore interfere with the right to seek asylum. UNHCR further noted an absence of procedures for processing asylum-seekers arriving irregularly, which may prevent effective individualised assessments of the asylum-seeker’s circumstances, rights and needs. The amendments also give the Cabinet of Ministers the authority to trigger a “reinforced regime”, which allows for the application of special rules to the movement of people at the border in case of large numbers of irregular crossings, including suspending certain border crossing points.

Sources: LSM, Latvian Ministry of the Interior, Cabinet of Ministers (1), Cabinet of Ministers (2), UNHCR (1), UNHCR (2), Amnesty International, Council of Europe