(AFP) Lithuania said Thursday it would offer migrants a greater cash incentive to return home, as the Baltic state struggles to repatriate thousands who crossed into the EU member from Belarus.
Each migrant who voluntarily opts to go back to their country of origin will now receive 1,000 euros ($1,130) instead of just 300 from state border guards, along with a plane ticket home, the interior ministry said.
“After rejecting most of the asylum requests, we need solutions to return the migrants to their countries of origin,” Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite told AFP.
“We hope that the higher payment will increase the number of migrants who return voluntarily,” she added.
