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Iraq
A migrant attempts to destroy the razor-wire fence to cross into Poland (left) on November 16, 2021. Photo: AFP. The Kurdistan Parliament (right). Photo: Bilind T. Abdullah. Graphic: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A number of Kurdish migrants who are caught in a standoff between Minsk and the European Union are among the list of Iraqis scheduled to return home by the end of the week, an official told Rudaw on Tuesday as the Kurdistan Parliament prepares to send a delegation to look into the dire situation of Kurds stranded on the Belarus-Poland border.
Two families and a number of young people will return to the Kurdistan Region in Iraq’s first repatriation flight on Thursday, the head of the parliament's Relations and Kurdish Diaspora Committee Rebwar Babkayi told Rudaw’s Hemin Baban over the phone.
They are from Erbil, Zakho, and other cities in the Region, he added without sharing further details about the returnees.
Thousands of Iraqis, among them many Kurds, have left their homes this year, taking costly and often dangerous journeys in the hope 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 have found themselves on the cold border between Belarus and Poland, trapped in a standoff between Minsk and the European Union.
Iraq has begun registering its nationals in Belarus and offering flights home for those who are willing to return. The first repatriation flight set to bring Iraqis and Kurds back will first arrive in Baghdad, and then make its way to Erbil, Babakayi said.
Over 300 stranded Iraqis have registered to return to Iraq, state media on Tuesday quoted spokesperson for Iraq’s foreign ministry Ahmed al-Sahaf as saying.
Two-hundred-forty people have registered their names to return to Iraq while 65 others have applied for laissez-passer, he added referring to an official travel document that gives a person permission to pass.
At least 8,000 Kurds have traveled to Belarus with the intention 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.
The Kurdistan Parliament has notified Poland and Belarus of sending over a delegation, according to Babkayi. In response, Poland, which has not yet confirmed the trip, asked the committee for further details of the visit.
“We emphasized visiting the borders and seeing our immigrants [Kurds],” he said, adding that they wanted to learn of the migrants’ agony and talk to them up close.
Dramatic scenes of migrants camped out in the cold on the Belarus-Poland border have made headlines over the past week. In response, Poland has tightened its border security.
However, there have been several attempts of crossing the border.
Earlier on Tuesday, Polish guards used tear gas against the migrants after another failed attempt to destroy fencing in order to cross into the country, the Polish Ministry of National Defence said.
Kuźnica: The migrants attacked our soldiers and officers with stones and are trying to destroy the fence and get to Poland. Our services used tear gas to stifle the aggression of migrants https://t.co/pQ0wlNO4m9
— Poland MOD 🇵🇱 (@Poland_MOD) November 16, 2021
Thousands of migrants had spent the night before camping out at a checkpoint on the border near Kuzinca village. They were faced by a dozen of Polish guards and armored vehicles.
Some of the migrants have sustained injuries, and several others have now lost their lives. A fourteen-year-old Kurdish boy died from the freezing conditions last week. The bodies of two other Kurdish migrants who lost their lives on the border arrived in Erbil for burial on Sunday.
Updated at 8.47pm
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