Iraqi migrants caught in border tensions in Belarus fly home

By DARIA LITVINOVA and YURAS KARMANAU

MOSCOW (AP) — Hundreds of Iraqis flew location from Belarus connected Thursday, abandoning their hopes of reaching the European Union pursuing much than a week of tensions astatine the bloc’s eastbound border, wherever thousands of migrants became stuck.

Meanwhile, state-run Belarusian media reported that determination were nary much migrants near successful the makeshift camps adjacent the Polish frontier aft authorities opened a heated warehouse for them to structure from the acold in. This could not instantly beryllium verified.

Since Nov. 8, immoderate 2,000 people, mostly from the Middle East, person been stranded astatine the borderline crossing, trapped successful a dank wood arsenic forces from the 2 countries faced disconnected against each other. At slightest 12 radical person died successful the country successful caller weeks, including a 1-year-old whose decease a Polish humanitarian enactment reported Thursday.

Most are fleeing struggle oregon hopelessness astatine location and purpose to scope Germany oregon different occidental European countries. But Poland didn’t privation to fto them in, and Belarus didn’t privation them returning to the superior of Minsk oregon different settling successful the country.

The West has accused Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko of luring the migrants to the borderline to usage them arsenic pawns to destabilize the 27-nation bloc successful retaliation for its sanctions connected his authoritarian regime. Belarus denies orchestrating the crisis, which has seen migrants entering the state since summertime and past trying to transverse into Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

Amid the tug-of-war, a full of 430 Iraqis person registered for flights home, according to Iraq’s consul successful Russia, Majid al-Kilani. And 374 boarded 1 that near Thursday afternoon, Lukashenko’s spokeswoman Natalya Eismont said. The formation plans to marque 2 stops — 1 successful the metropolis of Erbil and different successful the Iraqi superior of Baghdad.

Other radical person moved to a adjacent warehouse, which Belarusian authorities acceptable up connected Tuesday, offering mattresses, water, blistery meals and aesculapian assistance.

That near nary 1 astatine the borderline camps, state-run bureau Belta reported Thursday.

But successful all, Eismont, Lukashenko’s spokeswoman, said arsenic galore arsenic 7,000 migrants successful full stay successful the country.

In the latest salvo successful the warfare of words, European Union Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, accused Belarus of engaging successful “an enactment of state-sponsored migrant smuggling” and said sanctions and stopping flights to Minsk that transportation migrants were “our astir effectual tools successful this struggle.”

Foreign ministers of the G-7 radical of starring industrialized countries besides condemned “the Belarus regime’s orchestration of irregular migration crossed its borders” successful a connection Thursday.

Eismont said that the information that hundreds of radical were leaving Belarus shows that the authorities is holding up its portion of the bargain. The remainder are “categorically refusing to fly, but we volition enactment connected it,” she said.

Earlier this week, according to Eismont, Lukashenko projected to German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the EU could unfastened a “humanitarian corridor” to let 2,000 migrants to caput to Germany, portion Belarusian authorities would enactment connected convincing the different 5,000 to instrumentality to their location countries.

In effect to a petition for comment, Merkel’s bureau referred to its Tuesday connection connected the telephone betwixt her and Lukashenko, successful which she stressed the request for humanitarian assistance and for the migrants’ harmless instrumentality home.

Poland has taken a pugnacious basal against the migrants’ amerciable entry, reinforcing the borderline with riot constabulary and troops and making plans to physique a gangly alloy barrier. The Polish attack has mostly met with support from different EU nations, who privation to halt a surge of migration.

But Poland besides has been criticized by quality rights groups and others for pushing migrants backmost into Belarus and not allowing them to use for asylum.

In caller days, a melee broke retired connected the border, with migrants throwing stones astatine Polish forces massed connected their broadside of the razor-wire fence, injuring 12, and the troops responded with h2o cannons and teardrop gas. Warsaw accused Belarusian forces of instigating the conflict, portion the authorities successful Minsk denounced Poland’s “violent actions.”

Lukashenko has rejected accusations of engineering the situation and said his authorities has deported astir 5,000 amerciable migrants from Belarus this fall.

In May, however, helium had railed against the EU sanctions imposed connected his state for its harsh crackdown connected interior dissent, saying: “We were stopping migrants and drugs — present you volition drawback them and devour them yourself.”

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Karmanau reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Associated Press journalists Vanessa Gera successful Warsaw, Sabina Niksic successful Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Frank Jordans successful Berlin, and Samuel Petrequin successful Brussels contributed to this report.