First two families relocated from Greece granted asylum in Latvia

The first two families relocated from Greece to Latvia under an European Union-wide scheme in February have been granted alternative protection status in their Baltic host country, Latvian Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs said Thursday.

One of the families, hailing from Eritrea, has already been provided with housing, while the other family, from Syria, is still looking for permanent accommodation and staying at an asylum center in Mucenieki, outside Riga. Both families are determined to master the Latvian language and want to settle down and work in Latvia.

The Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs has already hired one of the Eritreans, a man with extensive and unique language skills, to help ensure day-to-day communication with other asylum seekers and do other translation and interpretation work. The Syrians are also keen to find work as soon as possible and hope to combine working with learning Latvian.

The first six asylum seekers in need of international protection, including two children of pre-school age, were flown to Latvia from Greece on Feb. 5.

According to information on the website of the Latvian Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, alternative status can be granted to a person if there is a reason to believe that the person is at risk of being exposed to death penalty or corporal punishment, torture, inhuman or degrading attitude, or degrading punishment in his or her country of nationality or previous country of residence (if a person is stateless); the person requires protection due to international or domestic armed conflicts and he or she cannot return to his or her country of nationality or previous country of residence (if a person is stateless). Endit