Lithuania has filed a lawsuit against Belarus at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing its neighbor of violating international law by allegedly orchestrating the smuggling of migrants across their shared border. The Lithuanian government is demanding compensation for damages incurred as a result.
In a statement released Monday, Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry said the case centers on Belarus’ alleged breach of the United Nations Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air. The complaint was submitted to the ICJ in The Hague after bilateral negotiations failed to resolve the dispute.
Vilnius claims that Belarus, through direct state involvement, facilitated irregular migration into Lithuania by increasing flights operated by state-owned carriers from regions including the Middle East. Migrants were allegedly guided to the Lithuanian border by Belarusian security personnel and coerced into crossing illegally.
Lithuania further alleges that Belarusian border authorities refused to cooperate in efforts to prevent such crossings. The government is now seeking a ruling from the ICJ to hold Belarus legally accountable for violating international law, as well as full compensation for damages—including costs related to border reinforcement. No specific monetary amount was disclosed.
The influx of migrants from Belarus into EU territory has been a major point of tension since 2021. EU officials have repeatedly accused Minsk of deliberately engineering the crisis to destabilize the bloc—a claim Belarus denies.
Belarus, a close ally of Russia, allowed Moscow to use its territory as a staging ground for the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In December, the EU authorized Poland and other frontline states to temporarily suspend certain asylum rights in cases where Belarus and Russia were found to be exploiting migration for political purposes.
Lithuanian Justice Minister Rimantas Mockus emphasized the gravity of the case in a statement Monday: "The Belarusian regime must be held legally accountable for orchestrating the wave of illegal migration and the resulting human rights violations. We are taking this to the ICJ to send a clear message: no state can use vulnerable people as political pawns without consequences."
The ICJ has not yet indicated when it will rule on the case.