Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Wednesday (August 4th) ordered an investigation into the death of an Iraqi on the border with Lithuania, amid political and migratory tensions between the two countries.
Read also: Belarus: chilling testimonies of an ordinary dictatorship
Lithuanian authorities suspect Minsk of orchestrating an influx of migrants, especially Iraqis, in retaliation for EU sanctions due to political repression in Belarus.
Vilnius announced on Tuesday that those who attempt to enter the country will be turned away.
On Wednesday, an Iraqi national, severely beaten, was found by Belarusian border guards in Beniakoni, near the Lithuanian border.
He "
died in the arms of the
Belarusian
border guards
", according to the unofficial Telegram channel of the Belarusian president, Pool Pervogo.
"
The president was immediately informed of this shocking murder of the Iraqi returning from Lithuania
", according to the same source.
Alexandre Loukachenko ordered to "
open an investigation
", as well as to find the relatives of the deceased and to issue them a visa for Belarus to come and recover the body, continues Pool Pervogo.
Migrants used as pressure tactics
Despite Belarusian denials, the EU sees Minsk using migrants as a weapon to pressure its Baltic neighbor which hosts exiled Belarusian opponents, in particular President Lukashenko's main rival, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. The head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell, had also requested explanations from the Iraqi authorities on the use of the Baghdad airport to transport migrants to Belarus, from where they are illegally escorted to Lithuania. On Tuesday, the spokesman for Belarusian diplomacy Anatoly Glaz rejected these "
gratuitous accusations (...) which go against reality
".
Belarusian border guards also said on Tuesday that around 40 migrants, including women and children, had returned to Belarus with "
bodily injuries
" after being turned back by Lithuania.
Read also: Migration crisis: Lithuania subjected to blackmail by Minsk
Since the beginning of the year, Lithuania, a country of 2.8 million inhabitants, has registered more than 4,000 migrants - mostly Iraqi nationals - against 81 for the whole of 2020. The Belarusian regime has orchestrated a merciless repression of the vast anti-Lukashenko movement born of his re-election in August 2020. Thousands of demonstrators and opponents have been imprisoned or forced into exile since the fall of 2020.
