Iraq Will Repatriate Citizens Returning From Belarus Border ‘Voluntarily’
Iraq said it would repatriate its citizens that are stranded on the Poland-Belarus border. Iraq’s Foreign Ministry said it would assist the migrants that want to return “voluntarily.” The ministry says it has put together a list of over 570 Iraqis who said they are willing to return. The first such flight is set to leave for Baghdad on Thursday. Iraq said it has also sent diplomats stationed in Russia and Poland to the border with Belarus to check on its citizens.
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Thousands of migrants have massed on the Belarus border hoping to pass into the European Union and head to a Western country, most reportedly from Iraq. The EU has accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s government of engineering the crisis in retaliation for EU sanctions by encouraging migrants to come to Belarus by saying that he would not prevent them from crossing the border and then helping them to get to the border. The migrants are facing dangerous conditions including freezing temperatures and unsanitary conditions.
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates is preventing citizens of Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and Iraq from boarding flights to Minsk that have been leaving from the country, including on the Belarusian state-owned carrier Belavia. The UAE Cabinet announced the decision on Sunday. Several other countries, including Turkey and Syria also are limiting such flights.
