Prime Minister of the Kurdish Autonomous Region of Iraq (Iraqi Kurdistan) Masroor Barzani stated that it is not economic difficulties or lack of stability for the flight of many Iraqi Kurds to Belarus. No one leaves the region because of economic or security problems, he said Friday, November 19, ahead of the Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain.
Most of the Kurds who have fled the country are being exploited by networks of human traffickers and smugglers, Barzani said. “They want to use these people for their own purposes in order to make a profit,” he explained.
Iraqi Kurdistan is a relatively stable zone in Iraq, but, as in general, is experiencing a serious economic crisis, dpa notes. Many of the migrants who are currently on the border of Belarus with Poland are trying to get to the European Union from the territory of Iraqi Kurdistan. On Thursday, about 430 migrants, mostly Iraqi Kurds, were sent from Minsk by plane to Baghdad.
Barzani that the migrants did not try to enter Belarus illegally. “No poor person has enough money to become a refugee,” he said.
Aggravation of the situation on the external border of the EU
The situation on the eastern external border of the EU escalated sharply on November 8, when several thousand migrants approached from Belarus intending to enter the European Union. On the Polish-Belarusian border, people spend the night in temporary camps at low temperatures. In the last days of the group, migrants have repeatedly tried to break through the barriers and cross the border.
At the end of May, the government of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, announced that the authorities would no longer detain illegal immigrants trying to get to the EU through Belarus. In early autumn, the number of images from the Middle East to Minsk increased. After that, the flow of migrants seeking to the EU from the territory of Belarus increased sharply.
The European Union accuses the Lukashenka regime of deliberately provoking a tense situation and organizing the transfer of thousands of migrants to the borders of the European Union in response to European sanctions.
In response to the “hybrid attack” of Minsk, the EU supports the fifth package of sanctions, which will be launched against airlines transporting migrants from the Middle East to Belarus. In the past few days, a number of airlines have announced flights to Minsk.
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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
