No evidence of Iraqi migrants killed on Polish border, Baghdad says

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq on Thursday denied the arbitrary killing of Iraqi migrants on the Polish border following Belarusian claims that “mass executions” were carried out against Iraqis on the Belarus-Poland border earlier this year.

A Belarusian investigative committee on Tuesday claimed that “criminal actions” were taken against 135 Iraqis by Polish security forces leading to the death of a number of them, alleging that information of “mass execution” and “secret burial” of Iraqi migrants was disclosed to the Belarusians by a polish army deserter. 

Iraq’s foreign ministry addressed the recent claims which accused Polish forces of committing a number of human rights violations against Iraqi migrants, saying there was no evidence of the execution of Iraqis on Poland’s border.

“The foreign ministry’s procedures regarding migrants started last February and the killing of migrants has not been proven to us,” state media reported the ministry’s spokesperson Ahmed al-Sahaf as saying.

Nonetheless, he stressed that Iraqi migrants have passed away to varying circumstances.

Tens of thousands of mostly young Kurds left the Kurdistan Region for Europe last year in search of a better life, using people’s smuggling routes.

A number of these migrants died in freezing temperatures on the Belarus-Poland border and others drowned in the sea, suffering a catastrophic fate.

Erbil and Baghdad accused Minsk of exploiting the migrants for political gains against the European Union. In mid-November, Iraq began offering free flights to those who chose to return voluntarily.

Over 3,800 Iraqis and Kurds returned voluntarily, Sahaf noted while emphasizing that the rate of migration increased “strangely” last year.

Around 37 thousand people left Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in the first 10 months of 2021, according to a refugee foundation.