Iraq to begin repatriation flights for Belarus migrants on Thursday
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq on Thursday will bring home a first flight of migrants who want to return from the Belarus-Poland border, the spokesperson to Iraq’s foreign ministry told state media on Sunday.
“Iraq will conduct its first flight for those who are willing to return on the 18th of this month,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed al-Sahaf told state media, noting that these returns are voluntary.
Thousands of Iraqis, among them many Kurds, have left their homes this year, taking costly and often dangerous journeys in the hopes of reaching Europe. Many leave the country in search of opportunities free from corruption, political tensions, and instability that have left young people with little hope for their future in Iraq, but they found themselves on the cold border between Belarus and Poland, trapped in a standoff between Minsk and the European Union.
At least 8,000 Kurds have traveled to Belarus with the hopes of gaining access to western Europe, which has fortified itself against the wave of migration and accused Minsk of luring desperate migrants to the border in protest of sanctions.
Iraq’s foreign ministry has registered 571 Iraqi citizens in eight camps along the border, Sahaf said, but “it is not possible to count the full numbers because the border strip extends 680 kilometres and there are some who are reluctant to return.”
Dramatic scenes of migrants camped out in the cold on the Belarus-Poland border have made headlines over the past week. Aid agencies say at least 10 migrants have died on the border, AFP reported. On Friday news broke of the death of a 14-year old Kurdish boy.
The United Nations, which visited the border last week, said many children and women, some of them pregnant, are among the migrants. “The makeshift camp at the border with no adequate shelter, food, water and medical care in freezing temperatures is not a safe and suitable place for people and could lead to further loss of life,” the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.
Many migrants say Germany is their preferred destination and the German Minister of State in the Foreign Office Niels Annen spoke with Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Sunday. “We will do everything together so that the [Belarusian President Alexander] Lukashenko regime no longer lures people to the EU borders with false promises,” he tweeted after the phone call.
Barzani in a tweet on Sunday said that he is “deeply concerned by the plight of our citizens, as well as the many others on the EU borders” and is working “with our partners to ensure their safety and security.”
The prime minister added that the migrants have been “deceived by traffickers; exploited by networks abroad.”
European nations have accused Belarus of manufacturing the crisis by facilitating visas for migrants and promising them easy access to western Europe. Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, spoke with Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei on Sunday, telling him “The current situation is unacceptable and must stop. People should not be used as weapons.”
Makei said Belarus is interested in “the early resolution of the migration crisis,” but also emphasized the “futility and counter-productivity of sanctions for the development of Belarus-EU relations.”
Lukashenko on Monday said that if Poland is not prepared to open a "humanitarian corridor" for the migrants, then Belarus could fly them to Munich, Belarusian state media Belta reported.
Baghdad and Minsk have both taken steps to cut off routes to Belarus. Iraq has suspended the work of Belarusian missions in Baghdad and Erbil and stopped flights to Minsk from Iraqi airports. Other gateways to Belarus are also being closed. Turkey has banned Iraqi citizens from boarding flights to Minsk. Private Syrian carrier Cham Wings Airlines on Saturday halted flights to Minsk. The Belarusian national carrier Belavia on Sunday announced Iraqi citizens would no longer be accepted on flights originating from Dubai.
Updated at 12:04 pm