VILNIUS – Four families of Syrian refugees that arrived in Lithuania in June under the European Union (EU) program bypassed the Rukla refugee registration center and were moved directly to the country's biggest cities, officers in charge of their integration said.

Up until now, all of the refugees arriving in Lithuania used to spend a few months in Rukla, however, the Social Security and Labor Ministry said this spring it would test a new integration model where the migrants would be settled in municipalities immediately.

"From the 11 refugee families that came to Lithuania in June, four were moved directly to municipalities," Gabija Vitkeviciute, an adviser to the social security and labor minister, told BNS.

In her words, one family was settled in Vilnius and Klaipeda each, while the remaining two live in Kaunas.

Under the EU program, Lithuania has received 349 refugees from refugee camps in Italy, Greece, and Turkey by now. Most of the refugees have already left Lithuania.

Nearly two years ago, Lithuania committed itself to receiving 1,105 refugees from countries, such as Syria, Iraq, and Eritrea.