Iraq suspends direct flights with Belarus to protect migrants from human trafficking gangs

Amid the ongoing migrant crisis, Iraq’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday, 12 November, announced the suspension of direct flights to Belarus in a bid to protect Iraqi migrants from human trafficking gangs. The move comes as thousands of refugees are gathering on the Belarusian side of the border in an attempt to enter Western Europe to seek asylum. The stranded migrants are reportedly living in brutal conditions in freezing cold, with some of them even going multiple days without food. The West has accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of manufacturing the migrant crisis on the EU’s eastern border in a bid to destabilise the bloc as a retaliation to the sanctions over human rights abuses. 

Now, in the wake of the worsening situation, Iraqi embassies in Russia and Poland are coordinating efforts for the voluntary return of the Iraqi migrants stranded on the Belarus-Poland borders, Ahmed Al-Sahaf, spokesman of Iraq’s Foreign Ministry, told Iraqi News Agency. It is to mention the recent decision to suspend flights to Belarus was taken to protect migrants from human trafficking. Al-Sahaf said human trafficking networks trap the Iraqi migrants, adding that the ministry is following the situation along Belarus’ borders with Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. 

Apart from Iraq, the Turkish Civil Aviation Authority on Friday also announced that it would not allow citizens of Iraq, Syria and Yemen to fly from Turkey to Belarus. Hundreds of asylum seekers, especially from conflict-ridden Arab states, have been trying to enter the European Union through Poland. As per the Polish border Agency, more than 16,000 attempts have been made to illegally cross the border since August. 

Belarus-Poland border crisis 

Meanwhile, at an emergency UNSC meeting, the Western member states criticised Minsk for escalating the migrant crisis at the border. The member states issued a joint statement accusing Belarus of putting the lives of the people in danger “for political purposes”. According to BBC, they said that Belarus was attempting to divert “attention away from its own increasing human rights violations”. 

However, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s government has previously denied all the allegations and blamed the West for dangerous, fatal, border crossings and even poor treatment of migrants. According to the media report, the Polish border guard said on Thursday, 11 November that it recorded more than 1,000 crossing attempts in just the last two days. These attempts reportedly included some of the “large-scale” efforts with around 100 people trying to breach the fence. Migrants who have flocked the Belarus border with Poland, are hoping to get to Western Europe but since many of them are left stranded, they have started building makeshift camps in the area.

(Image: AP/Unsplash)