Iraq to repatriate citizens stranded at Belarus border
The Iraqi announcement came as the European Union said it would step up sanctions on the Belarusian government and some airlines.
Iraq says it will repatriate its citizens stranded along the Poland-Belarus border who want to return home beginning Thursday as aid agencies warn of a worsening migrant crisis at Europe’s doorstep.
"Iraq will carry out a first flight for those who wish to return voluntarily on the 18th" of November from Belarus, Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed al-Sahaf said Sunday. He added that Iraqi authorities have drawn up a list of 571 Iraqis who are willing to return from the border “voluntarily” on flights from Minsk to Baghdad.
Iraq has also dispatched diplomats based in Moscow and Warsaw to the border to "check on [the migrants'] safety and communicate with the relevant authorities.” The news of the repatriation flights comes after the Belarusian missions in Baghdad and the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Erbil were temporarily closed last week.
Thousands of Middle Eastern migrants, including many from Iraq’s Kurdistan region, are stuck in makeshift camps at the former Soviet republic's border, hoping to enter Poland, Lithuania or another European Union member state and gain asylum.
