The 571 Iraqi illegal immigrants will be able to be repatriated.
"
Iraq will make a first flight for those who wish to return voluntarily on the 18th of this month
" from Belarus, Ahmed al-Sahaf, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Iraqi public television on Sunday night. see you Monday.
However, this first departure is based on volunteering.
To the
Associated Press
, a clandestine confided, disillusioned, "
yes, I will go home like all those who are here
".
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Another said that he was unable to cross the barbed wire erected by the Polish government on the Belarusian border: “
My fingers couldn't, it was too cold.
I am here for the moment, I do not know where I will go next
”.
A third explains wanting to return to his country because there are "
too many problems in Poland
".
These Iraqis are mainly from Iraqi Kurdistan and camp on the border with Poland which pushes them back and announced the construction of a wall to prevent crossings.
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Thousands of soldiers have been sent to guard the border in the face of thousands of illegal immigrants, who say they want to go to Germany. After declaring a state of emergency, Poland hastily erected a fence made of razor-sharp barbed wire. Belarus has played a troubled role in smuggling people from their countries to the Polish border. Since August, air links between Baghdad and Minsk have been suspended. According to Ahmed al-Sahaf, this measure "has reduced Iraqi trips (to Belarus, editor's note), but the problem is that some now go there on indirect flights, via Turkey, Qatar, Emirates and Egypt ”. In reaction, nationals of Iraq, Syria and Yemen are banned
"To buy tickets and board for Belarus from airports in Turkey,"
the Turkish Aviation Authority announced on Friday (November 12th).
While the European Union has announced a new set of sanctions against Belarus, the latter has said it is ready to work "
actively
" to bring back to their countries illegal immigrants stuck at the border.