After attempting to enter the European Union: Iraqi migrants returned from the Polish-Belarusian border
The Danish Broadcasting Corporation website published a report about the return of 400 Iraqi migrants to their homes after a failed attempt to migrate to the European Union.
As the current major political conflict between Poland and Belarus unfolds, migrants on the Polish-Belarusian border have ended up as a central focus of the conflict.
According to the source, a plane landed yesterday evening in the Kurdish city of Erbil in northern Iraq. The plane arrived from Minsk in Belarus and had about 430 passengers on board.
Many of them, like thousands of other Iraqis and Afghans, spent months crossing the border from Belarus into Poland and the European Union, but things did not go as they had hoped.
According to the report, many of them sold their cars and other possessions to begin the journey, but returned home after losing what they had spent. Many migrants also paid money to human traffickers to reach the European Union via Belarus.
In addition to the loss, they lived in migrant camps along the border, where they struggled to find food and warmth in near-freezing temperatures, and when they tried to cross the border they were met with tear gas.
At least eight people have died at the border in recent months.
According to Michael Lund, a reporter for The Source, the migrants were bitter and disappointed about being sent back. He added, "I spoke to someone who paid $6,000 for the ticket and to be smuggled.".
Although some of them had traveled several months ago, the situation on the border between Poland and Belarus has deteriorated particularly in recent weeks.
Poland accuses Belarus of directing migrants to the European Union through Belarus and from Iraq in an attempt to destabilize the EU, and they see this as revenge for recent events and for the sanctions imposed on Belarusian President Lukashenko, who is called “Europe’s last dictator.”.
Poland has repeatedly increased the number of its soldiers on the border, and the defense minister stated last week that there are currently 15,000 soldiers on the Polish border to stop the numerous attempts by migrants to cross the border.
Until now, migrants have also been unable to return to Belarus, but that has changed in recent days.
According to the Belarusian state news agency, the migrants were taken to a logistics center near the border, where they were given the opportunity to sleep in an enclosed space after several weeks of living in temporary tents.
According to the correspondent, the European Union exerted pressure to end the situation on the border, and then Iraq chose to offer to take back the migrants.
The European Union also put pressure on airlines to prevent them from transporting migrants to Belarus. According to the reporter, some said they wanted to return because they could no longer stay and live on the border, while others said Belarusian police took them to the airport to leave.
Although many have returned home, others are still trying to leave Iraq.
