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“You’re in Sweden now,” the asylum seeker was told as he was dropped in a Latvian forest. The news marked yet another phase in one refugee’s search for safety. Latvia has been historically resistant to inbound migration. Although the country began receiving small numbers of asylum seekers in the late 1990s one human rights worker reminded me, “As a country we’re fairly new to this. Our asylum law meets minimum standards of the EU. The problem is how it is implemented.”

In December 2010, Refugees International conducted a field mission to Latvia to assess the situation of the more than 336,000 persons in Latvia who do not presently have an effective nationality and are stateless. During my preparations for the trip and in the course of the visit, however, it became clear that statelessness is just one of the human rights issues in the country needing attention. For while Latvia is a party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, asylum seekers there face serious protection challenges.

There is a high risk that persons in need of protection may be subjected to involuntary forced return or refoulement. Whether turned back at airports or land borders, such action is in violation of international humanitarian law. Presently the Latvian government monitors border policy, but that needs to change. It should be an independent process. That being the case, a step in the right direction took place on January 14, when the Latvian State Border Guards and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) signed a Border Monitoring memorandum.

“Negative decisions on asylum and returns of persons who, according to independent observers, are in need of protection happen quite often,” I was told.  “Sometimes asylum seekers are sent back to the country of departure, not the country of origin, though.” Many times legal professionals gain access too late to react effectively.

According to current asylum law, any applicant entering the country may be detained for a period of seven days without court permission. Thus those admitted to Latvia are almost automatically detained and placed in confinement facilities that are in terrible need of renovation.

As it stands, there are no alternatives to detention in Latvian law and little awareness of why it is necessary. Although there is a 20-month limit for detaining someone at a given time, failed asylum seekers often find themselves detained, released, and then detained again – leading to prolonged periods of confinement.

The UNHCR has four offices in the sub-region that includes the Baltic States and a number of national offices in the EU, but no presence in Latvia itself. The UNHCR regional office in Stockholm oversees the situation in Latvia, but in reality the agency needs staff in the country to fulfill its mandates on behalf of both refugees and stateless persons.

Other challenges for detainees come in the form of not being able to access an interpreter or their right to have contact
with legal counsel and non-governmental organizations, let alone the outside world.

The number of asylum applications, while relatively small in relation to other European countries, is steadily increasing. The recognition rate is low, though each year a number of individuals are granted subsidiary protection. UNHCR is concerned about differences in standards of protection, manifestations of racism and xenophobia, and the disparities in the quality and consistency of asylum decisions. Currently, only the Latvian Center for Human Rights provides legal advice for refugees in a systematic manner. Due in part to the tough economic situation, government efforts to integrate persons whose claims have been adjudicated have been poor.

I hope the Latvian government listens and changes course. Officials need to be trained on the rights of asylum seekers. Border guards shouldn’t be heard to say things like, “No one will give you asylum. You can go back now or wait to be deported.”  Latvia must provide asylum seekers with information about their rights, systematically. The number of qualified lawyers must be beefed up. And it’s time for a serious public awareness campaign. Refugees are people too.