Hundreds of Iraqis repatriated from Belarus amid border crisis

Iraq’s first deportation flight on Thursday aims to return citizens who travelled to Belarus with the hope of entering Europe

More than 400 Iraqis stranded in Belarus are being repatriated on a charter flight from Minsk to Baghdad, with a stop in Erbil, officials have said, Qazet.az reports citing Al-Jazeera.

Iraq’s first deportation flight on Thursday aims to return citizens who travelled to Belarus with the hope of entering Europe, amid reports of a looming humanitarian disaster with reports of violence on both sides of the Poland-Belarus border – where temperatures are near freezing, and a lack of humanitarian aid.

“Four hundred thirty Iraqi migrants have been documented to board the evacuation flight today to travel to Iraq,” said Ahmed al-Shhaf, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “The consular teams in Belarus are continuing to register the names of 50 others.”

It was not clear how many passengers ultimately boarded the plane.