"We heard Lukashenko's statements that they will flood us with migrants and drugs, but we've been observing that increase in the flow of illegal migrants for some time already. If we compare the figures, so we have 189 illegal migrants from Belarus this year, which is double from last year," she said during a sitting of the Lithuanian parliament's Committee on National Security and Defense on Wednesday.

The committee is discussing the security of the country's border with Belarus following Lukashenko's recent statement that "we were stopping migrants and drugs – now you will catch them and eat them yourselves".

The increase in the flow of illegal migrants is part of the Belarusian regime's conscious policy against the State of Lithuania, Bilotaite said.

"That is determined by geopolitical reasons, and judging from what we see, (Belarusian) officers possibly cooperate and are involved in organized transportation of illegal migrants," Bilotaite said.

In her words, illegal migrants arrive in Belarus on planes from Istanbul and Baghdad, with four flights taking place weekly.

"Let's imagine that there are around 600 people on a flight to Minsk and those people then move towards Lithuania in an organized manner. We have information that the work of well-organized criminal structures, in cooperation with officers, and a trip for one person costs around 1,500 euros or 35,000 euros for a family," the minister said.

In her words, Belarusian officers say they don’t see illegal migrants, try to disguise footprints and "that is a sign of a conscious policy and conscious action against the State of Lithuania".

Also attending the committee sitting, Rustamas Liubajevas, head of Lithuania's State Border Guard Service, also showed footage of Belarusian officers levelling out footprints on the sandy strip on the border after migrants crossed the border.

Bilotaite says Lithuania, in pursuit of short-term solutions, has drawn up contingency plans in case of a significant rise in illegal migrant flows, and is also looking into tightening living conditions for refugees and installing surveillance systems along the whole border with Belarus over the upcoming two years as now cameras are used to monitor only 38 percent of the border. The project will need 38 million euros.

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