ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — More than 300 Iraqi citizens stranded in Belarus and on the Lithuanian border have returned to Iraq, Baghdad’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday evening.
The body of a migrant killed on the Belarusian-Lithuanian border was also repatriated.
Around 240 Iraqi citizens, including the body of Jaafar al-Haris, arrived at Baghdad’s International Airport on Tuesday evening, said the ministry’s spokesperson Ahmad Al-Sahaf.
Another flight with over 80 people arrived in Baghdad on Monday, he added.
Some 4,000 migrants have flooded into Lithuania from Belarus in what Lithuania says is a politically motivated move weaponizing migrants to pressure the European Union to lift sanctions on Minsk. Most are Iraqis, including Kurds.
Speaking to Rudaw on Thursday, Lithuania’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mantas Adomenas said their neighbor is pushing migrants into Lithuania in order to pressure the EU into dropping the sanctions.
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The European Union (EU) placed sanctions on Belarus in June over “enduring repression” and the forced landing of a Ryanair flight carrying a prominent Belarussian human rights defender, then in exile in Poland.
Kurds stranded in Lithuanian camps have told Rudaw of harsh living conditions, with flooded tents, assault by authorities, and no drinking water – forcing some to drink toilet water.
Some said they would rather be deported than be kept in the camps.
Safeen Dizayee, head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)'s Department of Foreign Relations, discussed the situation with Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis in a phone call on Tuesday .
The two sides agreed to “strengthen bilateral ties and cooperation,” he said.
Lithuania and Latvia both took “emergency action” over the situation on the Belarusian border on Tuesday, AFP reported, with Lithuania’s parliament approving the construction of a fence on the border.
The EU said there had been a "significant decrease" in migrant crossings after Iraq suspended flights to Belarus following requests from the EU and Lithuania, it added.
