Lukashenko's rhetoric sends mixed signals as Belarus Prez encourages migrants to 'go West'

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Friday visited the Bruzgi border crossing to meet hundreds of migrants sheltering in the warehouse. During the address to the cluttered asylum seekers, mostly from the Middle East and Asia, Lukashenko encouraged them to continue their attempts to enter Europe, Belta quoted him as saying. At the same time, Lukashenko also clarified that Belarus will also support the repatriation of "irregular" migrants who have "no plans to force their way westward."

“If you want to go west, we won't choke, grab and beat you. It is your will. If you go through, go ahead. That's simple. I know that not everyone will like what I say, especially those abroad, but it's the truth, they should know the truth,” said Alexander Lukashenko, as quoted by Belta.

Lukashenko's comments come after Belarus opened flight services for migrants to return, transporting over 400 to Iraq last week. On Thursday and Friday together, around 600 were flown to Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s autonomous province Kurdistan, as per Politico. Another flight has been scheduled for Saturday this week.

Lukashenko admits Belarus troops may have helped Migrants cross Europe

President Lukashenko during an interview with BBC acknowledged that it was "absolutely possible" that his troops have helped asylum seekers to push through borders and enter Poland. "Maybe someone helps them. I won't even look into this," he told BBC. However, he denied being responsible for the crisis by luring migrants with false promises of assured entry to the bloc. 

Migrant crisis at Poland border

The migrant crisis at the eastern borders of Poland and Belarus has dramatically escalated as hundreds of asylum seekers, from mostly the Middle East and Asia, began to set up tents behind barbed wire fences in hopes of crossing into European Union member Poland and further into Europe to claim refuge. As of November 9, Polish authorities blocked at least 2,000 migrants who congregated at the eastern Poland borders, hurling logs of wood at the security forces. Furthermore, several migrants living under harrowing conditions at the border died in recent weeks as temperatures began to slump below zero.

There have been at least 4,500 recorded border crossing attempts according to Polish authorities. In last week, around 1,000 attempted undocumented crossings were thwarted by Polish authorities, leading to detainment and further deterioration of crisis along the border. As per CNN, some migrants were also pushed towards the barriers by Belarusian services.

(Image: AP)