MOMD: More than 4,000 Iraqis are still stuck at the borders of Europe

Kurdistan 04:55 PM - 2021-12-13

Today, Monday, the Ministry of Migration and Displaced revealed the number of Iraqis stranded in Beladrus near Poland's border.

Minister Evan Faeq Jabro said, "a delegation from the ministry headed by Undersecretary Karim al-Nouri went to Poland to solve the problems of the stranded migrants," stressing, "we are not with forced return but with voluntary return."

"The ministry is in contact with the UN, as most of those in the camps in Poland refuse to return," she added. noting that "there are more than 4,000 people who are still stuck at the border between Poland and Belarus."

Iraq and the Kurdistan Region suffer from continuous migration flows. Illegal Kurdish migrants often use Turkey as a transit point to reach prosperous European Union states through Greece. Many rely on smugglers and risk their lives through perilous journeys in overcrowded boats.

Recently, migration flows have turned to Belarus to get to European countries.

Thousands of illegal migrants, including over 1000 Iraqi migrants, have recently crossed the borders of Belarus towards Poland attempting to cross to European countries, but have been prevented by the Polish border guards. 

The migrants currently stuck in the area and are in a very difficult situation are calling for help. A large part of them is from Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, including women and children. Several Kurdish migrants died on the Belarus border amid freezing temperatures and rough weather conditions.

Both Baghdad and Erbil suspended flights to Belarus to prevent the phenomenon.

The massing of people at the border escalates a crisis that has been going on for months, with the EU accusing Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka of flying migrants from the Middle East and Africa to Minsk and then sending them to its borders with EU members Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland.

However, Lukashenka denies the accusation.



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