Against the background of the situation on the borders of Belarus with the EU countries, the Lebanese authorities, following a number of other countries, imposed restrictions on flights to Minsk. The Civil Aviation Administration in Belarus said in a statement issued by the Civil Aviation Administration in Beirut, released on Wednesday, November 17, by the state news agency NNA.
The Lebanese department also noted that recently a large number of citizens flew from Beirut to Belarus, intending to enter the EU countries with the help of smugglers. However, it is difficult to distinguish them from air passengers. Departing from Beirut airport.
On November 12, Turkey, under pressure from the EU, banned the sale of aircraft for flights to Belarus. On the same day, Belavia announced its refusal to accept citizens of Arab states on flights, while Iraqi Airlines refused to resume flights to Minsk. The Syrian airline Cham Wings also announced the termination of flights to Minsk.
Conflict between Belarus and the EU
In the near future, the EU intends to adopt the fifth package of sanctions against Belarus, which will be a response to the “hybrid attack” of the regime of Alexander Lukashenko, which uses migrants as a tool to achieve its goals. It is assumed that they will be carried out in the order of about 30 travel agency agents and officials who support the Belarusian regime in the smuggling of migrants.
The situation on the Polish-Belarusian border escalated sharply on November 8, when several thousand migrants approached it from Belarus, wishing to move to the European Union. The border guards and servicemen managed to stop them, they set up camp near the village of Kuznitsa. In the following days, groups of migrants made repeated attempts to break through the barriers at the border, including with the use of stun grenades.
In May, the government of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, announced that Minsk would no longer hold back from further travel to the EU countries. After that, the flow of illegal migrants sharply increased, first to Lithuania and then to Poland. The European Union accuses Lukashenko of deliberately provoking a conflict and organizing the transfer of thousands of people to the EU borders in response to sanctions against his regime.
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How the Belarusian transit of migrants to the EU works
On the border with Poland
A large number of illegal migrants from Syria and Iraq have now accumulated on the border of Belarus and Poland, who are trying to get into the EU. They are trying to break through the barbed wire fence set up by Poland. In May, Lukashenka announced that Minsk would no longer hold back from further travel to EU countries, and since then the number of illegal migrants has grown significantly.
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How the Belarusian transit of migrants to the EU works
Trapped between Poland and Belarus
Migrants are actually stuck on the border between Poland and Belarus. The Polish side does not allow them to enter the EU. The ruler of Belarus is accused of provoking a migration crisis by organizing the transfer of thousands of illegal migrants to the EU borders.
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How the Belarusian transit of migrants to the EU works
Delivered to the border from Minsk
According to migrants, travel agencies in their countries sell air tickets to Minsk and issue them a 30-day visa. The cost together with the services of “carriers” is up to 20,000 euros. From Minsk, depending on the package of services purchased, they are either taken to the hotel or sent to the waiting room. When a group is recruited, they are put on a bus and taken to the border.
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How the Belarusian transit of migrants to the EU works
The beginning of the journey of migrants from Iraq
Most of the illegal migrants trying to get to the EU through Belarus are Iraqi citizens. They arrive in Minsk from three cities on the territory of Iraqi Kurdistan: Erbil, Shiladze and Sulaimaniyah. Under pressure from the EU, Iraq has canceled direct flights to Minsk from Baghdad since August. People also travel to Belarus from Syria, Afghanistan, Congo. Migrants reach Minsk via Dubai, Turkey, Lebanon and Ukraine.
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How the Belarusian transit of migrants to the EU works
First – a flight to Minsk, then – the border with the EU
Belarus has significantly increased the number of people from the Middle East to Minsk. Until next March, about 40 flights are planned weekly from Istanbul, Damascus and Dubai airports to Minsk – twice as many as a year ago. The air harbors of these cities are currently most often used by migrants for flights to Belarus, in order to travel further to the EU countries.
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How the Belarusian transit of migrants to the EU works
Flights with migrants not only at the Minsk airport
Currently, about 800-1000 migrants arrive in Belarus every day. In this regard, five Belarusian airports may soon be involved. They will go from national to international. One of them is located in the city of Grodno, just 20 kilometers from the Polish border.
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How the Belarusian transit of migrants to the EU works
What is happening in the Belarusian border area
In the Belarusian legislation, nothing has changed regarding the visit of the border strip by citizens of Belarus and foreigners. To get here, you must first contact the border service, notify your intentions and get a pass. Violators face fines and deportation. But now there are many illegal immigrants in the border area. They are hiding in the woods, trying to cross the border with Poland.
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How the Belarusian transit of migrants to the EU works
Through Belarusian forests – to Poland
According to the stories of migrants, Belarusian border guards go to the Polish side – they cut the barbed wire or find a safe loophole with the help of drones. And already in Poland, using geolocation in a smartphone, migrants determine the location of the person who will take them further. For example, to Germany.
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How the Belarusian transit of migrants to the EU works
Migrants don’t want to stay in Poland
Under the Dublin regulation, migrants must apply for asylum in the country where they first crossed the EU border. But in Poland, refugees choose not to register their fingerprints in the EU’s fingerprint database. Many people succeed in this, and therefore the number of messages that the German authorities can send back to Poland is extremely small.
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How the Belarusian transit of migrants to the EU works
Target battery – Germany
Transport on the Polish side, as a rule, is a small cargo van, in the back of which 30-40 people are packed. An escort car drives ahead of the reconnaissance van. If suddenly there is a check on the road, the route changes. The Polish-German border is crossed in different ways: in the same van, on foot, and by taxi, and by public transport.
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How the Belarusian transit of migrants to the EU works
Refugees in Germany
According to the German police, 4,900 migrants illegally entered the FRG through Belarus and Poland – twice as many as in September. All illegal migrants caught or voluntarily surrendered to the German authorities are found by police officers with passports stamped by Belarusian border guards.
Author: Natalia Pozdnyakova