Iraq repatriates 617 citizens stranded on the Belarusian border

Iraq's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Thursday the return of 617 citizens stranded at the Belarusian border.

"The ministry's efforts are continuing to return the migrants voluntarily, and 617 Iraqis are now being returned in coordination with Iraqi Airways, from the Belarusian capital, Minsk," the ministry's spokesman, Ahmed Al-Sahaf, said in a statement.

"Our priority is to evacuate children, women, and the elderly," he added, noting that "the diplomatic teams of the ministry are closely following up on providing humanitarian support and securing voluntary return."

Iraq and the Kurdistan Region suffer from continuous migration flows. Illegal Kurdish migrants often use Turkey as a transit point to reach prosperous European Union states through Greece. Many rely on smugglers and risk their lives through perilous journeys in overcrowded boats.

Recently, migration flows have turned to Belarus to get to European countries.

Thousands of illegal migrants, including over 1000 Iraqi migrants, have recently crossed the borders of Belarus towards Poland attempting to cross to European countries, but have been prevented by the Polish border guards. 

The migrants currently stuck in the area and are in a very difficult situation are calling for help. A large part of them is from Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, including women and children. Several Kurdish migrants died on the Belarus border amid freezing temperatures and rough weather conditions.

Both Baghdad and Erbil suspended flights to Belarus to prevent the phenomenon.

Belarus for its part said it would not allow citizens of Iraq, Syria, and Yemen to board flights from Turkey at the request of Turkish authorities.

The massing of people at the border escalates a crisis that has been going on for months, with the EU accusing Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka of flying migrants from the Middle East and Africa to Minsk and then sending them to its borders with EU members Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland.

However, Lukashenka denies the accusation.



PUKmedia