REVEALED: The SECRET route migrants are using to enter Europe
A SECRET route being used by Vietnamese migrants to enter Europe has been discovered by border guards.
Migrants are entering the EU through a secret route via Lithuania
The route passes through Lithuania - far to the north of the well-trodden migrant paths across the Mediterranean and through the Balkans.
Border guards said criminal organisations are smuggling people from Belarus, which is not in the European Union, into Lithuania, which is a member.
Renatas Pozela of the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service revealed: “The transit route through Lithuania has been used for many years.
“We are also seeing constant attempts to open new corridors, mostly by Syrian and Iraqi refugees who are trying to reach Scandinavian countries."
The Lithuanian route is not as popular as those via the Balkans or Mediterranean
Hundreds of those entering Europe via this route are Vietnamese citizens - many of whom had been working in Russia.
Due to an economic downturn in the country, many of these workers are now seeking employment in Europe. They travel from Russia to Belarus before Chechen smugglers help them into the European Union.
Mr Poleza said Lithuanian authorities were unable to do anything to stop the migration due to a lack of partnership with Russia.
He said: “The leaders of these criminal organisations are from Russian Federation. For various reasons, they're unreachable by our justice system.”
Migrants are being smuggled from Belarus into Lithuania
Issues are also rife within migrant centres where arrivals of different cultural backgrounds come into conflict.
Aleksandras Kislovas, who runs a centre in Padrade in eastern Lithuania, said: “We are trying to prevent prison rules being brought into the centre, as well as limit conflicts arising from cultural differences.”
Minister announces Germany has deported 80,000 migrants
Lithuanian border guards are powerless to prevent migrants leaving Belarus and Russia
The majority of migrants choose to enter Europe by alternate routes. During 2015, nearly 1.5 million illegal border crossings were made by the Balkans and Mediterranean routes.
The Eastern Borders Route, meanwhile, registered just 1,920 illegal border crossings.