“Rumours that Germany is planning to send busses to pick up persons from Belarus through Poland to Germany are false. Whoever spreads these lies puts people in great danger,” the German Federal Foreign Office said on Twitter.
German Minister of State in the Foreign Office Niels Annen said after a phone call with Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani that they “will do everything together so that the Lukashenko regime no longer lures people to the EU borders with false promises,” referring to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Barzani said in a tweet on Sunday that he is “deeply concerned by the plight of our citizens, as well as the many others on the EU borders” and is working “with our partners to ensure their safety and security.”
A recent wave of Kurdish migrants have traveled to the Polish border, where they hope to cross over then make their way to Germany. In response, Poland has tightened its border security. Some migrants on the Belarus-Poland border have sustained injuries, and several others have lost their lives. On Wednesday, a 14-year-old Kurdish boy reportedly died from the freezing conditions.
The Iraqi government has suspended the work of both the honorary embassy of Belarus in Baghdad and the consulate in Erbil in an effort to prevent its citizens from traveling to Minsk. Turkey, which many Kurds use as a pathway to Belarus, has banned Iraqi citizens from boarding flights to Minsk.
Iraq on Saturday said it is providing “exceptional flights” from Belarus to Iraq for its nationals who want to return home, according to state media. German Minister-President of Saxony Michael Kretschmer on Friday called on Kurds to build their future at home.
Since October 2020, the EU has imposed restrictive measures against Belarus, adopted in response to concerns over the 2020 presidential election and intimidation and violent repression of peaceful protesters, opposition members and journalists.
EU members of the United Nations Security Council and the US condemned Belarus for the migrant crisis on its borders on Friday, describing it as an “orchestrated instrumentalisation of human beings whose lives and wellbeing have been put in danger for political purposes by Belarus.”
